PRS for Music has announced pioneering new plans to pay royalties from online streaming services monthly in 2025.
This will be initially piloted on 14 March, and is then expected to move to regular monthly payments from August.
Speaking to M about this change, PRS for Music’s CEO Andrea Czapary Martin said: ‘As part of our ongoing commitment to service excellence, I’m delighted to kickstart the new year by announcing a landmark pilot to transition to monthly payments for multi-territory online royalties [MTOL]. Having listened to feedback from members, the team at PRS for Music are continually working to make sure royalties are paid faster and more frequently.’
Thanks to PRS for Music’s investment in leading technologies, streamlining of its data processing methods (such as the Nexus programme) and vision in establishing the world’s first multi-territory licensing hub, members will be paid faster, more frequently and with fewer deductions when their work is used on services like Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.
Asked about the new change, Tim Arber, Director of Operational Improvement at PRS for Music, explained: ‘Moving our MTOL distributions from quarterly to monthly will allow data to flow through our systems more efficiently, enabling us to reduce the time between when members’ music is played and when they get paid.’
The change comes after member consultation and approval from the Distribution Committee, who, Tim added, ‘carefully considered the merits of making more frequent distributions of PRS MTOL royalties, before approving us going ahead’.
PRS for Music will continue to make four major payments to members each year in April, July, October and December. The new monthly payments will adhere to the existing distribution process, where members with royalties due over £30 (UK) and £60 (overseas) are paid on the 15th of each month or the nearest date. A full list of payment dates can be found here.
MTOL makes up a significant portion of the royalties PRS distributes each year, including 29% of the total royalties that were paid out in 2023. The proposed move to monthly payments follows last year’s MTOL admin rate reduction, which is estimated will allow an additional £47m to be paid out by 2030 — putting more royalties in the hands of PRS members.
PRS members who will receive MTOL royalties in the new March payment window will be contacted directly in February.
