PPL sign Plan B
British hip-hop and R&B artist Plan B has moved to music licensing company, PPL, for the administration of his international neighbouring rights collections.
Plan B, who has been recognised with accolades at both The BRIT Awards (‘Best Male Solo Artist’, 2011) and MOBO Awards (‘Best UK R&B/Soul Act’, 2010 and ‘Best UK Male’ / ‘Best UK Hip Hop/Grime Act’, 2012) is the most recent name to join a growing roster of high profile performers for whom PPL collects on an international basis. These include artists as diverse as Bastille, Duke Dumont, Jessie J, Paolo Nutini, Rita Ora, Emeli Sandé and Tinie Tempah.
Plan B released his latest album ‘Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose’ in May 2018 and it entered the Official UK Album Chart at Number Five. His previous album ‘The Defamation of Strickland Banks’ was a UK Number One and certified four times platinum by the BPI (British Phonographic Industry). He is arguably best-known for his Official UK Singles Chart Top Ten singles ‘Stay Too Long’ (Number Nine, 2010), ‘She Said’ (Number Three, 2010) and ‘Ill Manors’(Number Six, 2012).
In early July, PPL announced its largest ever distribution of £150.7 million with over 86,280 performers and record companies receiving a royalties payment. This latest quarterly distribution included a record international collections value of £25.7 million – up 39 percent (£7.2 million) on the previous record (£18.5 million in September 2017). PPL’s international collections have increased from £6 million in 2006 to nearly £50 million in 2017. During this period, PPL collected over £355 million internationally for performers and record companies.
“PPL has a reputation for being straight-talking and working very hard on their artists’ behalf – I’m glad to have them on my side.”
Plan B commented: “I feel strongly that people who make music should be paid fairly. PPL has a reputation for being straight-talking and working very hard on their artists’ behalf – I’m glad to have them on my side.”
Peter Leathem, Chief Executive Officer at PPL commented: “It is a very exciting moment to welcome Plan B as the latest high profile artist to join the PPL family, following the likes of Rita Ora and Emeli Sandé earlier in 2018. It has been a busy year for us as we continue to collect royalties for more artists internationally, as well as distributing more revenue than ever before. We look forward to working with Plan B and his team from now onwards.”
PPL has a market-leading international collections business and receives over a third of all performer neighbouring rights payments moving between collective management organisations (CMOs) globally. A key reason for the company’s success is the robust relationships PPL has with other CMOs internationally. With 90 agreements in place across countries from the USA, throughout Europe, and in South America, Africa and Asia, PPL is helping its members to maximise their revenue when their repertoire is broadcast and used overseas.
