PPL International collections hit a record £94 million in 2021
UK music licensing company PPL collected a record £94 million of international monies in 2021 (9.4% up on 2020), reinforcing its position as the world’s leading international neighbouring rights company. Neighbouring rights royalties are collected when sound recordings are played in public, such as in shops, bars, nightclubs and offices, copied for private use, or broadcast on TV and radio or online.
2021’s record international collections are a result of a number of factors. PPL has continued to work on improving recording metadata and the identification of recording usage, which has helped it to claim and collect more revenue. PPL has worked with other collective management organisations (CMOs) to do this, notably using the Virtual Recording Database (VRDB) of performer CMO association SCAPR to drive performer royalty collections. VRDB is a centralised system that allows performer CMOs to better identify recordings and improve and share performer line-ups on those recordings. PPL is also home to leading neighbouring rights experts who have close relationships with CMOs around the world, allowing them to proactively claim and deliver royalties for its tens of thousands of performer and recording rightsholder members, including four times Grammy-winner Anderson .Paak, ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus and multi-platinum singer/songwriter Rita Ora.
Currently PPL has 105 agreements with CMOs across Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America and is the world’s leading international neighbouring rights company, collecting more overseas revenue than any other CMO, administrator or agent. Since 2006 it has collected nearly £700 million of international revenue.
Laurence Oxenbury, Director of International at PPL, said:
“As a global service provider for the music industry, it is fantastic that PPL has delivered a record result for the tens of thousands of performers and recording rightsholders who trust us with their international collections. Each year we improve the technological and operational systems that allow us to claim royalties for our members and develop the already excellent relationships we have with CMOs around the world. These systems and relationships are why PPL is the market leader in international neighbouring rights collections and have helped us collect nearly £700 million in revenue since our international service began in 2006.
I’d like to thank the team at PPL, as well as the teams at each CMO we work with, for their hard work. The long-standing, collaborative relationships we have with our partners are crucial to performers and recording rightsholders getting paid and the £94 million we collected in 2021 is a testament to their efforts.”
Peter Leathem, Chief Executive Officer at PPL, said:
“I am extremely proud of yet another record year for PPL’s International collections. It cements our position as the world’s leading international neighbouring rights company, a position we hold thanks to sustained investment in our sector-leading data, technology, operations and talented team of neighbouring rights experts who work tirelessly to claim royalties on behalf of our members.
These results also partly reflect the strength of UK music abroad. Our country produces some of the world’s most commercially and critically successful artists and it is a privilege to represent and defend their neighbouring rights.
Neighbouring rights has always been an important revenue stream for our members and never more so than throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. That will continue to be the case as we slowly emerge from the crisis. Effects of the pandemic will continue to be felt on our collections for a number of years and this will include our International revenue. However, today’s results show that we are set-up to maximise neighbouring rights income for performers and recording rightsholders, supporting their careers and businesses through a difficult time for the industry and ensuring they get paid for when their music is played.”
