Award-winning Northern Irish artist, composer, producer and broadcaster Hannah Peel has been newly elected as Writer Council Member alongside Chair of the Ivors Academy, Tom Gray; chart-topping songwriter, producer and artist, Crispin Hunt; composer and songwriter, Philip Pope, who have been re-elected as Writer Council Members.
Nigel Gilroy, Global Head of Legal & Business Affairs at Novello and Company (part of Wise Music Group); Daniel Lang, Vice President International Digital Licensing & Society Relations at Warner Chappell Music; John Minch, President for Europe at Concord, and Richard Paine, Director of Commercial Rights and Business Affairs at Faber Music, have been newly elected as Publisher Council Members.
The appointments were voted for by members at the PRS 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday 25 May.
CEO, Andrea Czapary Martin, said: 'My congratulations to the newly elected and re-elected Council Members. I very much look forward to working with you all. You bring a breadth of vision, diversity of skill sets and an understanding of the digital eco-system from which the organisation and the members will greatly benefit.
'Over the last two years PRS has embraced solutions and strived to innovate with our growth mindset that I set out at last year's AGM. Alongside our commitment to significantly increase the royalties paid, reduce our costs to income ratio, and innovate in our system and partnerships. Our new vision redefined our determination to provide the best possible service and overall support to members.
I have always been clear we must be ‘brilliant at the basics’. This means ensuring we have the right infrastructure and people to deliver our core functions, supporting members, maximising the value of the rights entrusted to us and making accurate and timely distributions. We cannot innovate and collaborate if we are not first meeting members’ needs and expectations.
I would particularly like to thank Nigel Elderton. This AGM is Nigel’s last as Chair and at the end of this year he will be stepping down as a Director, after 30 years of service. Nigel is a true leader in our industry and without him PRS would never have evolved and grown into the world leading CMO it is today.'
Chair of the PRS Members’ Council, Nigel Elderton, said: 'I welcome our newly appointed and reappointed Council Members whose combined experience and expertise will help to steer PRS’ future. I know they will bring a huge amount of insight and knowledge to the Members’ Council.
'On a personal level, I must add that it has been an unbelievable honour and privilege as Chair to serve the members of PRS who continue to create such amazing world beating music! As I look back on my 30 years as a Director of PRS, it is immensely rewarding to note how far and how quickly this company has transformed into a world class PRO. I wish PRS and its members continued success as it grows into becoming a billion-pound society.'
Newly elected PRS Council Members:
Nigel Gilroy is currently Global Head of Legal and Business Affairs at the Wise Music Group. Novello and its sister companies Schirmer and Chester Music are classical houses within the Wise Music Group. Nigel started his career as an engineer/record producer, retraining as a lawyer in the 1990s. He practised at Davenport Lyons for 14 years where his clients included the Estates of Nick Drake, Deep Purple and Adele. He has acted on several reported High Court and Court of Appeal cases and brings with him over 40 years of experience as a producer, lawyer and publisher.
Tom Gray like many modern music-makers work is broad and varied: commercial songwriter, theatre composer, ensemble performer, librettist, singer-songwriter and scorer of television and film. Tom has recently been elected Chair of the Ivors Academy. Tom founded the #BrokenRecord campaign in 2020, and his campaigning has led a conversation around music rights and licensing. As a founding member of Gomez, he won the Mercury Prize in 1998, and has over 25 years of experience on all sides of the music industry.
Crispin Hunt is a leading Creator advocate and chart-topping songwriter, producer and artist. As Chair of The Ivors Academy (BASCA, 2017-2022) he led its modernisation, mobilisation and reform into the profitable, prominent, diverse, representative, productive, organisation of today. Crispin’s a full time Songwriter/Producer who’s worked with or for Florence & The Machine, Tom Grennan, Rebecca Ferguson, Lana Del Rey, Rod Stewart, and more.
Daniel Lang is Warner Chappell Music’s VP of International Digital Licensing & Society Relations. He reports into Guy Moot, Warner Chappell Music’s CEO and Co-Chair, and works closely with the publisher’s local Managing and Financial Directors outside the US. As a former PRS for Music employee, Daniel has a deep and personal respect for the work it carries out on behalf of songwriters. Daniel also represents Warner Chappell Music on the boards of ICMP and IMPA.
John Minch is President of Concord Music Publishing International and CEO of Boosey & Hawkes (B&H) Music Publishers and brings a range of business experiences to PRS: business simplification, acquisition, management of people. All developed over the course of 20 years in music publishing. B&H remains the leading publisher of contemporary classical music worldwide. John is also a board member of ICMP and MCPS.
Richard Paine is Director of Commercial Rights and Business Affairs at Faber Music. He has worked in music publishing for over 36 years, starting at Peters Edition, then spending four years working for Music Sales in Sydney, Australia before joining Faber Music in 1993. More recently he instigated the company’s ‘Faber Alt’ initiative, whereby it has become involved in alternative and crossover music.
Hannah Peel is an award-winning Northern Irish artist, composer, producer and broadcaster. Her soundtrack for Game of Thrones: The Last Watch earned her a 2019 Emmy nomination. With a grounding in electronic and acoustic composition, as an independent artist Hannah’s solo career includes the shortlisted 2021 Mercury Music Prize album, Fir Wave and Electronic Sound’s No.1 album of the year Awake But Always Dreaming. In 2021, Hannah became a Belfast Music Patron alongside Gary Lightbody, following its City of Music 2021 status by UNESCO.
Philip Pope is a composer and songwriter with a diverse list of credits. During his long and varied career, he has written music for film, television, radio and theatre. During a long working partnership with Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, Philip composed music for BBC’s Harry and Paul, and the film Kevin and Perry Go Large. Other film credits include Crazy For A Kiss, Midnight Flight, The Infidel. TV credits include Outnumbered, Yonderland, Horrid Henry and Benidorm.
