Press releases

1 June 2012

Record royalty collections and plans for growth

Chairman Guy Fletcher OBE and
Chief Executive Robert Ashcroft address PRS AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the Performing Right Society took place on Thursday 31st May 2012 at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. Hosted by PRS Chairman Guy Fletcher OBE, the AGM brought together songwriters and publishers to elect board members and approve the 2011 financial accounts.

Chief Executive Robert Ashcroft outlined the revenue growth the society had achieved in 2011, buoyed from collections overseas and also online music services. Collections for 2011 for PRS for Music were £630.8m with £557.2m paid out to members, a 3.2% rise on 2010.

The strategic priorities for the organisation were shared with members, including:

Promoting and protecting the value of copyright
Growing revenue, particularly from the use members repertoire abroad
Running the business more efficiently
Offering ever improved services to members
Partnering with other societies to consolidate both front and back offices to deliver better service at a lower cost

Chairman Guy Fletcher OBE congratulated members on an outstanding year for their music including global commercial success and Grammy, IVOR and BRIT award recognition.

Three writer directors were reappointed to the Performing Right Society, Mick Leeson, Lynsey de Paul and Edward Gregson; Publisher director Simon Platz was reappointed and John Minch appointed as a new director.

ENDS

For more information, get in touch:

Barney Hooper, Head of PR:
barney.hooper@prsformusic.com
02073064548 / 07979 757052

PRS for Music:
PRS for Music represents 90,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in the UK. As a not-for-profit organisation it ensures creators are paid whenever their music is played, performed or reproduced; championing the importance of copyright to protect and support the UK music industry. The UK has a proud tradition of creating wonderful music that is enjoyed the world over and PRS for Music has been supporting the creators of that music since 1914.

PRS for Music provides business and community groups with easy access to over 10m songs through its music licences. In an industry worth £3.8bn PRS for Music is uniquely placed to be a voice for music and can provide data and comment for all aspects of the business: live, broadcast, sales, online, touring and music creation and up to date analysis, research and trends about the industry.