PPL Board

The PPL Board oversees all aspects of the company’s business, including its costs, revenues, licensing and operating policies. There are up to 17 directors on the PPL Board with representation from both major and independent record companies and the performer community. It is also supported by a Finance & Audit Committee, Distribution Committee, and Remuneration Committee, and is held accountable to PPL’s members through PPL’s AGM, at which directors are subject to regular re-election and PPL’s members have the opportunity to vote on matters affecting how PPL is run.

Any person may stand for election to the office of director by giving notice of nomination in writing by two or more Members representing in excess of 0.2% of the voting share of the company subject to approval by the board. More information can be found in PPL’s Articles of Association.

Current list of PPL Board members

Roxanne de Bastion

Performer Director

Soriya Clayton

Demon Music Group

Jackie Davidson MBE

Performer Director

Joy Ellington

VP Records

Julian French

Universal Music Group

Rob Gruschke

Beggars Group Ltd

Hannah Joseph

Performer Director

Peter Lale

Performer Director

David Lee

Performer Director

Charlotte Saxe

Warner Music UK

Rt Hon Lord Smith of Finsbury

Independent Director

Michael Smith

Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd

Horace Trubridge

Performer Director

Board Attendees

Name
Silvia Montello (AIM)
Sophie Jones (BPI)

PPL Board committees

The PPL Board currently has three committees, the members of which represent a cross-section of major record companies, independent record companies and performers.  Some committee members are directors, some are not. For example, members of the Finance & Audit Committee include senior financial executives from major and independent record companies, whose financial expertise is extremely valuable to the committee. Committee remits, and all committee members are determined by the PPL Board. This ensures that the directors (who have fiduciary duties to PPL and its members as a whole) can exercise appropriate governance.

  • The Finance & Audit Committee is tasked with reviewing PPL’s revenue and costs budget, prior to ratification by the PPL Board and to monitor progress throughout the year. In addition, the role of the committee is to review internal and external audit activities, including the audit of the financial statements each year.
  • The Distribution Committee’s primary function is to review and approve proposed distributions of revenue to PPL members (and the rules and processes underpinning them).
  • The Remuneration Committee’s role is to review executive remuneration. This is the one committee which consists entirely of PPL Board directors.

Performer Board

The Performer Board is a specialist sub-committee of the PPL Board with responsibility for overseeing the performer-related aspects of PPL’s operations. It includes the performer directors from the PPL Board and two other PPL Board directors.

There are six performer directors, all of whom are elected by PPL’s performer members.  Elections for performer directors are held at an Annual Performer Meeting and the criteria for election candidates are set out in the PPL Articles of Association. These criteria include provisions to ensure that there are at least two performer directors who are representatives of or associated predominantly with non-featured performers.

Current list of Performer Board members

NameFrom
Roxanne de BastionPerformer Director
Jackie Davidson MBEPerformer Director
Hannah JosephPerformer Director
Peter LeathemPPL
David LeePerformer Director
Michael SmithSony Music Entertainment UK Ltd
Peter ThomsPerformer Director
Horace TrubridgePerformer Director

Performer Board Invitee

Name
Cameron Craig (MPG)
John Barclay (Equity)
Naomi Pohl (MU)

Performer Guardian Members

PPL has up to five Performer Guardian Members (with up to three appointed by the Performer Board, and one by each of Equity and the MU), who represent the performer community at PPL’s AGM. The current list is set out below.

Name
Sheila Ferguson
John Patrick
Pete Wishart MP

VPL Board

The VPL Board oversees all aspects of VPL’s music video licensing business. There are seven directors on the VPL Board, with representation from major and independent rights holders (due to differences in how copyright law applies to music videos, the VPL Board does not have performer directors). Representatives from AIM and the BPI also attend. Similar to the PPL Board, the VPL Board is supported by a Finance & Audit Committee and Distribution Committee, with broad external industry representation.

The VPL Board is accountable to its members through VPL’s AGM, at which directors are subject to regular re-election and VPL’s members have the opportunity to vote on matters affecting how VPL is run. Any person may stand for election to the office of director by giving notice of nomination in writing by any VPL member subject to approval by the board.

Current list of VPL Board members

NameFrom
Geoff Kempin (Chairman)Eagle Rock Entertainment
Peter LeathemPPL
Charlotte SaxeWarner Music UK
Adrian SearDemon Music Group
Michael SmithSony Music Entertainment UK Ltd
Rob GruschkeBeggars Group Ltd


VPL Board Attendees

Name
Gee Davy (AIM)
Kiaron Whitehead (BPI)

Annual General Meetings

Both PPL and VPL hold annual general meetings at which members have the opportunity to elect directors and vote on matters affecting how the company is run. PPL also holds an Annual Performer Meeting, at which Performer Directors are elected.

For more information, please refer to PPL’s Articles of Association and PPL’s Code of Conduct for Members.