Getting started with royalties
A royalty, generally speaking, is a recurring (rather than a one-off) payment in exchange for permission to use something – in this case, recorded music.
This permission is also sometimes called a licence. Radio stations, TV channels, online services and businesses like workplaces and venues need a licence to play recorded music in their broadcasts, streams and premises. The licence fees they pay form the royalties distributed to the rightsholders and performers of the recorded music.
The right to control how recorded music is used are mainly set out in copyright law, with different rights relating to different aspects of music. For example, a recording rightsholder such as a record company typically owns the copyright in the recording, meaning their permission is needed if someone wants to use it. The law also gives performers rights for their performance on that recording.
There are many types of rights and royalties in music, and no single organisation deals with them all. This can make life complicated, but we work hard to make sure that receiving the royalties you are entitled to for the recording you own or have performed on is as simple as possible.
UK Royalties
As the UK’s music licensing company for more than 150,000 performers and recording rightsholders, we license recorded music when it is played in public or broadcast on the radio or TV in the UK and then distribute the fees to the performers and recording rightsholders we represent.
Through a network of international agreements with collective management organisations (CMOs) in other countries, PPL is also able to collect royalties for performers and recording rightsholders when their recorded music is played around the world.
In the UK, PPL does not deal with all of the rights that recording rightsholders and performers may have. Our main role is in relation to:
- The right to play recorded music in public (e.g. in a workplace or venue)
- The right to broadcast recorded music (e.g. on radio or TV)
- The right to copy recorded music for the purpose of playing it in public or broadcasting.
We also manage the rights in certain other uses of recorded music (including some online uses, such as internet radio). However, there are rights in recorded music that PPL does not manage, for example, the on-demand streaming of specific tracks (e.g. Spotify).
For the rights we manage, we issue licences to businesses and broadcasters which give them permission to use recorded music in these ways, covering all of the members whose rights we represent for those uses.
Because our licences cover such a wide range of recordings in this way, this type of licensing is sometimes referred to as “collective” or “blanket” licensing. The business or broadcaster obtaining the licence (the “licensee”) pays licence fees to PPL in exchange for the permission they are being given, and those fees (or royalties) are then distributed to our members.
Register with PPL for free to receive UK royalties a performer on a piece of recorded music (from lead singer to triangle player), or as a rightsholder (from record company to self-releasing artist).
How to become a member
Here’s how it works…
1
Register online for free
Use our online registration process to register your details as a performer, recording rightsholder, or both. For recording rightsholders, this includes appointing PPL to license your recordings in the UK when they are broadcast or played in public.
2
Customise your collections
Your membership automatically covers UK royalty collections but you can also use PPL to collect your royalties internationally. Recording rightsholders also have options about other types of licensing they may wish PPL to do on their behalf.
3
Tell us about your repertoire
Using myPPL – our secure, user-friendly online member portal – recording rightsholders should register the details of their recordings with us. Performers should link themselves to the recordings on which they have performed.
Find out more about collecting UK royalties through PPL.
Receiving royalties from around the world
As a PPL member, we can also collect royalties for you internationally for similar uses of recorded music. These international royalties are sometimes called Neighbouring Rights royalties.
We have agreements with other CMOs around the world through which we can collect royalties from over 50 countries on your behalf for the use of your recorded music and pay them through to you.
Find out more about collecting international royalties through PPL.
If you need a licence to play music, visit our licensing section to find the right license for you.
PPL and PRS for Music
PPL and PRS For Music are both music licensing companies. Because we each act on behalf of members to manage their rights, we are also sometimes referred to as collective management organisations (CMOs).
We both issue licences and collect royalties for certain uses of copyright-protected music and distribute these to our respective members. The main differences relate to what rights we are licensing and on whose behalf we do so.
PPL (that’s us)
We represent recording rightsholders and performers for the use of their recordings and performances and license recorded music for broadcast on radio, TV and certain digital media services.
PRS for Music
Represents songwriters, composers and performers for the use of their musical compositions and lyrics and licenses recorded and live music for broadcast on radio, TV and online.
If, for example, you are a rightsholder, composer, lyricist and performer on a recording, you may need to register with PPL and PRS for Music.