As with all the best celebrations, everyone’s invited to #PRSDay.
And April saw a huge variety of songwriters and composers take to social media to revel in the arrival of the latest PRS for Music distribution day.
Dance music producer Posthuman pointed out the worth of DJs reporting their festival setlists. Media composer John Chambers marvelled at his music being ‘all over’ kids TV in Hong Kong. Guitarist Tim Scott thrilled at seeing ‘how far [my music] goes’.
And everywhere, it was obvious that after a tough few years, with a global pandemic rapidly followed by widespread economic hardship, PRS payments continue to offer considerable respite to hard-working creators everywhere.
‘It’s nice being able to add a can of Heinz beans instead of Asda home brand now,’ quips rapper Reepa, who received his first ever PRS payment in the distribution, having registered when he signed to Wolves FC’s in-house record label last year. ‘That’s progress, especially in a cost-of-living crisis…’
And the good news for Reepa and others is that there’s plenty more where that came from. The latest annual figures from PRS show a remarkable, record-breaking bounce back, with both collections and distributions now above 2019 levels.
Revenues grew by 22.9% year-on-year to an all-time high of £964 million in 2022, and were also up an impressive 18.9% on 2019’s previous record figures. And the society hit a fresh pay-out peak of £836.2m, 23.5% up on last year.
'PRS payments continue to offer considerable respite to hard-working creators everywhere.'
In fact, almost everywhere she looks in the comprehensive report, PRS for Music CEO Andrea Czapary Martin is able to note landmark performances, including a historically low cost-to-income ratio of 9.3% and live music revenues spiking 683% (yes, 683%) to surge past pre-pandemic levels.
‘They are super results,’ says Czapary Martin. ‘We’re really seeing the work we’ve done in three years of changing the company come through now.’
Czapary Martin cites the governance changes for helping speed up decision making; PRS’s investment in systems and technology for improving efficiency and accuracy; and the PRS team for ‘changing the mindset and culture’. She also notes a remarkable 33 ‘major new agreements’ worth £10m-plus apiece with companies including Twitch, Apple TV+ and Freevee; while many contract renewals with digital service providers led to significantly improved terms.
Even better, these shifts are having an impact in the real world as well as on the balance sheets.
So, as the figures show that revenues from video-on-demand platforms rose by 16.5% year-on-year to £40.2m, TV music composer Hayley Wood is able to confirm surging demand. She saw a record 205 of her 500-odd works generate revenue last year.
‘I had been doubtful about the amount of money that you can generate from [video-on-demand] streaming,’ she says. ‘But now I’m starting to notice its potential. When you start looking at the figures and how many countries internationally are streaming, then it really starts making sense.’
‘They are super results,’ says Czapary Martin. ‘We’re really seeing the work we’ve done in three years of changing the company come through now.’
As viewers migrated to multiple platforms, revenue from linear UK broadcast television dipped slightly (-2.4% year-on-year) but was still significant, with singer-songwriter Rory Hope basking in the light of recognition from friends and family that comes with having his music featured on Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
‘Am I King of the Soaps?’ he laughs. ‘I’d be quite happy with that title if it turns out that way! It’s so interesting to go through the statement and see what works. You can see the same songs and genres being used for many different things…’
Hope sees the same in music streaming, with his folkier material proving popular in Scandinavia, while his ‘feelgood pop-dance songs’ get more traction in the UK.
And music streaming in general continues to grow, with revenues up by 25% on last year – a more robust increase than seen in the recorded music sector figures – with PRS writers behind many of the year’s biggest hits, including Cat Burns’ Go and Harry Styles’ As It Was.
Perhaps most heartening is the return of live music after more than two years of Covid disruption, with revenues soaring above 2019 levels, despite fewer concerts being reported to PRS in 2022.
‘The number of shows in the major stadiums have increased,’ notes Czapary Martin. ‘They’ve been really full – and our Major Live Concert Service has been very successful with making sure our members are paid quicker and get better terms.’Czapary Martin says she is aware of the pressures faced by small and medium music venues – PRS awarded six venues £10,000 each as part of its post-Covid Back To Live Music Venue Prize initiative – as they battle with hugely increased costs.
'Perhaps most heartening is the return of live music after more than two years of Covid disruption, with revenues soaring above 2019 levels.'
‘They’re struggling,’ says Rory Hope. ‘Live music has definitely made a comeback but, in some places, people just don’t want to go out as often as they used to.’
Meanwhile, Reepa – who saw a large slice of his PRS earnings come from gigs – is just glad to be able to play live.
‘I’ve never been in a better position when it comes to gigs,’ he enthuses. ‘I love performing and that’s what took off for me. I took to it like a fish to water. If this is what I’ve done over the past year and I’m just emerging, imagine if I get a breakthrough and it’s on a bigger scale. The possibilities are endless.’
There is no real bad news in this year’s figures – although international revenues – which rose 8.8% year-on-year – remain stubbornly 2.3% below 2019 levels.
Czapary Martin says many overseas markets are still suffering from ‘a post-Covid hangover’ but states confidently: ‘International will come back and we’re seeing it in the first quarter payouts of 2023.’ A new partnership with Orfium will see a boost and renewed focus on music licensing across Africa.
But that’s not to say there aren’t some dark clouds on the horizon. Czapary Martin is concerned about the potential impact of a largely unregulated AI-generated music sector on members. PRS are working with the government on a white paper and are already engaged in discussions on the approach to ensuring rights are central to the AI discussion.
‘We have to continue to proactively protect the rights of our songwriters, composers, publishers and members.’
That’s (human-created) music to the ears of Hayley Wood.
'PRS are working with the government on a white paper and are already engaged in discussions on the approach to ensuring rights are central to the AI discussion.'
‘AI could hit us all quite hard,’ says the composer, who says some companies are already favouring AI music over real musicians. ‘They say you can’t fully replicate the creative process, but we don’t know how clever it’s going to get. It is a bit alarming.’
But, while PRS for Music remains mindful of such future issues, Czapary Martin can also cheerfully point out that the society is on track to pay out over £1 billion in royalties by 2026, and help songwriters and composers deal with on-going hard times.
’We’re actually ahead of our five-year plan,’ she says. ‘People love music and we haven’t seen a [cost-of-living] impact on revenues yet. But we’re here to help our members, support them, make sure they’re fairly paid and paid quickly – and we’re doing everything we can to make that happen.’
And, hopefully, there will be plenty more to celebrate on #PRSDay in the future…
