Proposed for appointment by: Jessica Dannheisser, Dame Evelyn Glennie CH DBE, Phil Guyler, Crispin Hunt, Nik Kershaw, Dru Masters, Philip Pope, Andrew Sunnucks, Lina Tebbs, Debbie Wiseman OBE
I’ve been immersed in music since childhood when my dad was a DJ and the house was full of 45s. I sang and played piano from a young age, studied music at university and went on to write and arrange published music for choirs, schools, instrumentalists and orchestras that has been performed and broadcast around the world. Working at production music library Audio Network for 20 years I have focused on media music covering many genres from orchestral and brass band to pop and choral. My music has been placed on TV commercials, feature films, trailers and TV shows.
I’ve worked in music publishing for almost 30 years, starting my career at MCPS and PRS in the 1990s and moving into printed music publishing and production music. At Audio Network I oversee the publishing and label rights, managing global royalty collection and delivering payments to our 1,000+ writers, most of whom are PRS members themselves. Through this I have grown to appreciate the complex and vital work undertaken by PRS and global rights societies.
Across the music industry I collaborate with writers through my memberships of the Ivors Academy and of the PRS Media Music Group. I have served as a publisher director on the PRS Members’ Council and the Board of the Music Publishers Association, sharing information and finding solutions to protect and enhance the value of our music rights. I am an Associate Fellow at Westminster University Law School, teaching and mentoring the next generation of musicians, lawyers and industry professionals.
Music enhances all our lives every day. I continue to work hard to protect the value of our music and fight the challenges that technology devises to bypass our right to collect royalties for the exploitation of our works. Please entrust me with your vote.
Current and recent directorships: Audio Network Administration Limited, Audio Network Finance Limited, Audio Network Music Rights Limited, Audio Network Rights Limited, Audio Network Limited, Music Services Administration Limited, Music Publishers Association Limited, Performing Right Society Limited, and PPL PRS Limited.
Manifesto
As members of PRS we have some reasons to be cheerful. In the past eight years annual revenue has grown over 40% and royalty distributions by 50% - great news, particularly in our uncertain economic climate. Huge growth in music usage data brings additional processing challenges, partly addressed by the launch last year of the ICE Cube database. The introduction last year of monthly royalty payments for streaming has been welcomed too. Yet there is always room to improve efficiency and service. It’s the job of the Members’ Council to ensure that energies, talent and resources are focused in the right areas.
If elected, my areas of focus would be:
- resolving ongoing issues with the ICE database to deliver the efficiencies it was built for;
- stopping further erosion of royalty values from linear TV in favour of streaming – introducing checks and balances to ensure that royalties paid for linear TV accurately reflect the number of viewers;
- demanding music reporting for commercials used on streaming platforms like Netflix, YouTube, catch-up TV and for music in podcasts – it’s unacceptable that this music remains unreported meaning its creators are unpaid;
- resourcing and properly remunerating our member services team to ensure staff stay for the long term, building their knowledge and understanding to manage member queries effectively. Constant turnover of staff has created a sub-optimal experience for all members.
For almost 30 years I’ve been engaged with PRS as an employee, a writer and publisher member, and as a publisher director. This gives me a unique 360-degree view of the Society that will help to balance and inform my input to the Members’ Council, to ensure that the value of music is recognised, protected and commercialised to reward the inspired souls who write it.
I’d be really grateful for your support.
Connect with me on LinkedIn by searching for Simon Anderson PRS and email me directly with any questions at s.anderson3@westminster.ac.uk.
