Subscribe
Music News

PPL pays out to record number of artists in 2021

In its Q4 distribution this week, music licensing company PPL will make a payment of £41.8 million, down 2.1% from £42.7 million in 2020, to a record-breaking 124,000 performers and recording rightsholders, up 11% from 112,000 in 2020).

The payments were made either as direct members of PPL or indirectly through other CMOs (collective management organisations).

The royalties were collected by PPL for the use of recorded music in the UK and internationally. Across all distributions made in 2021, the PPL has paid out £228.7 million, down 12.1% from £260.2 million in 2020, to 147,000 performers and recording rightsholders, an increase of 9% from 135,000 in 2020. This is the highest annual total to date of direct and indirect members receiving a payment.

“It is fantastic to see PPL pay so many performers and recording rightsholders in a calendar year,” commented PPL CEO, Peter Leathem. “For years we have constantly improved our systems and technology, ensuring royalty payments to our members are maximised. Today’s announcement is a testament to this hard work and the industry-leading operation we have here at PPL. As we continue to navigate the pandemic and its impacts, we will keep on representing and fighting for the rights of those that create recorded music, helping them to get paid when their music is played.”

PPL has one of the most comprehensive repertoire databases in the world, holding detailed performer and recording rightsholder information on more than 20 million recordings. Also included in this Q4 payment is £0.3 million from PPL’s sister company VPL, which licenses music videos when they are played in public or broadcast on TV.

Furthermore, this is also the seventh year that non-featured performers active in the 1960s have received supplementary remuneration administered by PPL for Copyright Term Extension. Over 8,000 performers from the UK and around the world received supplementary remuneration allocations in this distribution.

Headliner recently spoke to Leathem about how artists and producers can make the PPL work for them, as well as how Covid has impacted payments throughout 2021. You can read the interview in full here.