Join as a publisher

Changes to joining process due to COVID-19

If you’re applying for a publisher membership, you’ll need to contact the admissions team on 020 3741 4805 or email admissions@prsformusic.com.

Application Reference Guide

Thank you for your interest in membership of PRS for Music.

To help you to decide if PRS for Music membership is right for you, we have a couple of questions for you to consider:

Q1.	Do you own or control the copyright in any musical works?
Q2.	Are your musical works currently being broadcast, performed live in concert, or played in public?

Answering 'yes' to both of the above questions indicates membership should now be considered. However, if you do not own or control the copyright in the works, you will not be able to collect any royalties generated by licensing of the works, and if they have not been used in any of the items detailed in question 2, no royalties will be generated.

You will need to complete and return the attached PRS for Music Publisher Membership Application and PRS Publisher Member Agreement in order to join. The Member Agreement, which when signed by you will only take effect if your application for membership is successful, transfers ownership to the Society any interest you have, or may subsequently acquire during your membership, in the performing right in the works in your catalogue. The transfer or assignment of the rights contained in the Agreement will normally be for the territory of the world but you may be entitled to exclude certain countries from the scope of the Society's administration of your rights. The Society's articles of association also permit applicants to exclude one or more of the rights comprised within the performing right from the scope of the transfer. If you wish to exclude any country and/or any part(s) of the performing right from your assignment to the Society, please do not sign the Agreement, but contact us by phone or e-mail as detailed below.

If you are in doubt as to the effect of the PRS Publisher Member Agreement on your ability to deal with the copyright in your works, you may wish to take independent legal advice.

PRS for Music is under no obligation to make royalty distributions in respect of performances of your works which take place prior to the date from which your admission to membership becomes effective. This will usually be the 1st January or 1st July immediately preceding the date when your completed Application is received at our offices.

The Society reserves the right to disclose certain information concerning any of your registered works to authorised members using the Society's Online Services Enquiry System and any associated e-mail or telephone enquiry system(s).

Except where expressly stated otherwise or provided by law, any notice or other written communication given under or in connection with this Agreement shall be sent by email to the email address provided by you on your admission form.

In order for us to process your application, you must provide evidence proving at least one of your works has been subject to a performance. Listed below are examples of the type of evidence required:-

Confirmation from a television / radio producer that your work was included in a tv / radio broadcast, or cable / satellite transmission; or a copy of a radio station playlist (obtained from a relevant website).
A live concert programme clearly detailing the performance of your work; or a set list signed by the venue promoter / proprietor where the performance took place

If you have any questions regarding the content or completion of this form, or you require a copy of PRS articles of association please contact the Member Admissions team on 020 3741 4805 or e-mail us at admissions@prsformusic.com

Thank you for your interest in membership of MCPS.

To help you to decide if MCPS membership is right for you, we have a couple of questions for you to consider:

Q1.	Do you own or control the copyright in any musical works?
Q2.	Have any of your musical works been released for retail purposes by a record company (other than one you own), or recorded into a radio, TV, audio-visual or multimedia production?

You will need to complete and return the attached MCPS Publisher Membership Application form and MCPS Publisher Licensing and Collection Mandate in order to join. The submission of the Licensing and Collection Mandate together with a fully completed and signed Membership Application constitutes an offer by you to enter into a legally binding agreement with MCPS, who you appoint as your agent throughout the world, for all mechanical rights which you own or control as described in your completed Licensing and Collection Mandate. If, however, you are a direct member of an overseas society, membership of that society takes precedence in that territory. All the terms and conditions are referred to in the MCPS Membership Agreement (MA2), the three annexes (Rental and Lending, Multimedia, Online Exploitation) and the Member Handbook, which should all be fully considered by you before returning your application.

The contents of the MCPS Membership Agreement (MA2) should be read and fully considered by you before returning the Application form. If you are in doubt as to the effect of the Membership Agreement on your ability to deal with the copyright in your works, you may wish to take independent legal advice. Acceptance of the offer referred to takes place when MCPS notifies you that your application for membership has been confirmed.

MCPS membership commences when you receive notification from us that your application has been accepted.

In order for us to process your application, you must provide evidence proving at least one of your works has been released for retail purposes i.e. on CD, tape, record, mini-disc or video, or are to be copied imminently into a radio, TV, audio-visual or multimedia production.

Listed below are examples of the type of evidence required:

A copy of a CD, vinyl record, cassette, mini disc, DVD, video containing at least one of your works.
A letter from a commissioning production company or broadcaster confirming your music has been copied onto a film, TV programme, tv / radio advert (that is being officially distributed), computer or video game.

If you have any questions regarding the content or completion of this form please contact the Member Admissions team on 020 3741 4805 or e-mail us at admissions@prsformusic.com.

Although MCPS and PRS for Music have a working alliance, they are individual societies licensing different rights and membership is separate. To help you decide if you should join we have a few questions for you to consider:

Q1.	Do you own or control the copyright in any musical works?
Q2.	Have any of your musical works been released for retail purposes by a record company (other than one you own), or recorded into a radio, TV, audio-visual or multimedia production?
Q3.	Are your musical works currently being broadcast, performed live in concert, or otherwise played in public?

Answering 'yes' to questions 1 and 2 means MCPS membership should be considered; 1 and 3 means PRS for Music membership should be considered; 1, 2 and 3 means membership of both societies should be considered.

To join either society you will need to complete and return the forms listed in the box below:

MCPS / PRS for Music Membership Application

MCPS Publisher Licensing and Collection Mandate

The submission of this form together with a signed Membership Application form constitutes an offer by you to enter into a legally binding agreement with MCPS, who you appoint as your agent throughout the world, for all mechanical rights which you own or control as described in your completed Licensing and Collection Mandate. If, however, you are a direct member of an overseas society, membership of that society takes precedence in that territory. All the terms and conditions are referred to in the MCPS Membership Agreement (MA2), the three annexes (Rental and Lending, Multimedia, Online Exploitation) and the Member Handbook, which should all be fully considered by you before returning your application.

PRS Publisher Member Agreement

The Member Agreement, which when signed by you will only take effect if your application for membership is successful, transfers ownership to the Society any interest you have, or may subsequently acquire during your membership, in the performing right in the works in your catalogue. The transfer or assignment of the rights contained in the Agreement will normally be for the territory of the world but you may be entitled to exclude certain countries from the scope of the Society's administration of your rights. The Society's articles of association also permit applicants to exclude one or more of the rights comprised within the performing right from the scope of the transfer. If you wish to exclude any country and / or any part(s) of the performing right from your assignment to the Society, please do not sign the Agreement, but contact us by phone or e-mail as detailed below.

If you are in doubt as to the effect of either Membership Agreement on your ability to deal with the copyright in your works, you may wish to take independent legal advice.

PRS for Music reserves the right to disclose certain information concerning any of your registered works to authorised members using the Society's Online Services Enquiry System and any associated e-mail or telephone enquiry system(s).

In order for us to process your application, you must provide evidence proving at least one of your works has been subject to mechanical and / or performance usage. Listed below are examples of the type of evidence required:-

MCPS membership

A copy of a CD, vinyl record, cassette, mini disc, DVD, video containing at least one of your works.
A letter from a commissioning production company or broadcaster confirming your music has been copied onto a film, TV programme, tv / radio (that is being officially distributed), computer or video game.

PRS for Music membership

Confirmation from a television / radio producer that your work was included in a tv / radio broadcast, or cable / satellite transmission; or a copy of a radio station playlist (obtained from a relevant website).
A live concert programme clearly detailing the performance of your work; or a set list signed by the venue promoter / proprietor where the performance took place.

PRS for Music Publisher Membership Application
ADDITIONAL DETAILS

MCPS Publisher Membership Application
ADDITIONAL DETAILS

MCPS / PRS for Music Publisher Membership Application
ADDITIONAL DETAILS

Territory representation details

If you are a direct member of any other mechanical rights organisation please detail below.

The name of any overseas mechanical rights society which you are currently a direct member of

The territory / ies for which the overseas society is directly responsible for collection of mechanical royalties

I acknowledge receipt of the MCPS Membership Agreement (Document Reference MA2) and the three accompanying annexes (Rental and Lending, Multimedia, Online Exploitation), which I have read and considered.

I hereby apply for Membership of MCPS and I understand that the submission of this completed Membership Application form constitutes an offer by me to enter into a legally binding agreement with you on the terms and conditions referred to in the Membership Agreement in accordance with my wishes expressed on the Licensing and Collection Mandate. I also understand that acceptance of this offer takes place when MCPS notifies me that membership has been granted.

This application should be signed by the proprietor

Name (in block capitals)	Signature

This agreement is made on:	Our signature

This application should be signed by all partners

Name (in block capitals)	Signature





This agreement is made on:	Our signature

This application should be signed by either two directors or one director and the company secretary

Name (in block capitals)	Signature
		Director
		Director / Company Secretary
This agreement is made on:	Our signature

PRS Publisher Member Agreement

Please note this is an important document. By signing it you will hand over certain rights to us. It also sets out precisely what you can expect from us and what we can expect from you whilst you are a member.

1.	Definitions
	In this Agreement:-

	(a)	words and phrases which are not defined shall have the same meaning as in our Constitution;
	(b)	"Constitution" means our Memorandum of Association, Articles of Association, Rules and Regulations (which are all available from us upon request) and any changes or additions made from time to time to those documents;
	(c)	"We" means the Performing Right Society Limited of 2 Pancras Square, London N1C 4AG and "you" means...

Legal name of publishing company (if different to trading name)

Trading address (including full postcode)

Registered Office (if different to trading address)

"Us", "our", "your" and "yourself" shall be construed accordingly;

	(d)	"territory" means the territory for which you transfer the rights to us under clause 2(a);
	(e)	"transfer" means (depending on the context) assign or assignment; and
	(f)	"the rights" means, in respect of any musical work the performing right.

2.	The Transfer

	(a)	You transfer to us absolutely for all parts of the world the rights in any work which belong to you on the date of this Agreement or which you may acquire or own while you remain our member.
	(b)	The transfer mentioned in clause 2(a) shall last for so long as you remain our member and for any additional period which is specified in our Constitution.

3.	Our Obligations
	We will:-

	(a)	use our best endeavours to administer the rights in accordance with our published service standards;
	(b)	use our best endeavours to pay you any royalties due to you under our Constitution.If we do not do so, we will pay you compensation up to the limit which is set out in our service standards;
	(c)	use our best endeavours to license on the best achievable terms as many users of the rights as practicable (taking into account business constraints, our resources and the interests of our membership as a whole);
	(d)	maintain a complaints procedure which you can use if you believe we have not treated you or administered the rights in accordance with our Constitution or policies.If that complaints procedure has been exhausted and you are still not satisfied, you will have access to an independent appeals procedure;

	(e)	treat information about your royalty earnings as confidential, subject to any practical or legal obligation to disclose such information to any authority or person with the legal power to compel such disclosure;
	(f)	return to you all or part of the rights in so far as this is permitted by our Constitution;
	(g)	allow you to modify the territory in so far as we are required to do so by law;
	(h)	maintain a suspension of royalties procedure which we will apply to you if there is a dispute involving the rights; and
	(i)	give you upon request details of the service standards, complaints procedure, appeals procedure and suspension of royalties procedure which are mentioned above as soon as practicable after you have requested such details.

3.	Our Obligations
	We will:-

	(a)	use our best endeavours to administer the rights in accordance with our published service standards;
	(b)	use our best endeavours to pay you any royalties due to you under our Constitution. If we do not do so, we will pay you compensation up to the limit which is set out in our service standards;
	(c)	use our best endeavours to license on the best achievable terms as many users of the rights as practicable (taking into account business constraints, our resources and the interests of our membership as a whole);
	(d)	maintain a complaints procedure which you can use if you believe we have not treated you or administered the rights in accordance with our Constitution or policies. If that complaints procedure has been exhausted and you are still not satisfied, you will have access to an independent appeals procedure;
	(e)	treat information about your royalty earnings as confidential, subject to any practical or legal obligation to disclose such information to any authority or person with the legal power to compel such disclosure;
	(f)	return to you all or part of the rights in so far as this is permitted by our Constitution;
	(g)	allow you to modify the territory in so far as we are required to do so by law;
	(h)	maintain a suspension of royalties procedure which we will apply to you if there is a dispute involving the rights; and
	(i)	give you upon request details of the service standards, complaints procedure, appeals procedure and suspension of royalties procedure which are mentioned above as soon as practicable after you have requested such details.

4.	Your Obligations
	You:-

	(a)	warrant and represent that you own or have full power to transfer the rights and that the musical works (the rights in which you have transferred to us under this Agreement) do not and will not infringe the copyright in any other musical work;
	(b)	accept that you are bound by our Constitution; and
	(c)	promise to:-

	(i)	indemnify us and keep us at all times fully indemnified from and against all proceedings, claims, demands, costs, expenses, awards and damages arising directly or indirectly in respect of the rights which you have transferred (or have purported to transfer) to us under this Agreement;
	(ii)	give us such documents as we may reasonably require to enforce the rights;
	(iii)	do all such acts as are necessary to vest the rights in us and enable us to enforce all or part of the rights;
	(iv)	insert in each relevant contract you make with a third party a clause expressly reserving to us the rights and to make such contract subject to this Agreement;
	(v)	refrain from licensing any of the rights and from otherwise dealing with the rights which you have transferred to us;
	(vi)	avoid doing anything which is likely to prejudice our ability to meet our obligations to you and to our other members; and
	(vii)	pay any annual membership fee or charges for special services rendered by us.

This agreement should be signed by the proprietor

Name (in block capitals)	Signature

This agreement is made on:	Our signature

This agreement should be signed by all partners

Name (in block capitals)	Signature





This agreement is made on:	Our signature

This agreement should be signed by either two directors or one director and the company secretary

Name (in block capitals)	Signature
		Director
		Director/Company Secretary
This agreement is made on:	Our signature

MCPS Publisher Licensing and Collection Mandate

Please note this is an important document. Please read it carefully. By completing and signing it you give MCPS the authority (mandate) to license, collect and distribute royalties for a particular use of a work or catalogue.

1.	PRODUCT BLANKET LICENSING

Audio / Video Product (AP / VP / ECL) - This mandate is automatically included, subject to any exclusions specified below.

MCPS operates the following types of licensing agreement under the Audio/Video Product Schemes:

Sales Agreement Companies - MCPS will license all parties which fall under this agreement on the basis of net shipments and charge commission on the royalties distributed. These companies account quarterly and MCPS will distribute within seven working days of receipt of the royalties for audio products and within one month of the receipt of the royalties received from both sales agreement and non sales agreement video product companies.
Non-Sales Agreement Companies - MCPS will license all parties seeking a license on the basis of manufacturing quantities and charge commission on the royalties distributed.
European Central Licensing (ECL) - ECL deals occur where the royalties for sales throughout Europe are collected by one society and distributed to the society in the territory where the sales took place for onward distribution to the copyright owner. ECL royalties are distributed quarterly.

EXCLUSIONS:

This section applies to applicants who own a record company and / or video company.

Sales Agreement Companies: If a Member wishes to exclude any audio product sales agreement company from MCPS collection, all AP.1 / AP.6 companies will be excluded (in accordance with clause 3 of the Membership Agreement). Collection then becomes the responsibility of the Member but licensing remains the responsibility of MCPS and a higher commission rate will apply.

Non-Sales Agreement Companies: A Member may exclude a record company on a manufacturing agreement (AP.2 / AP.2A), provided the record company and the Member are "Related Parties" (see clause 16.20 of the Membership Agreement). Where a record company is excluded, MCPS will continue to license that record company, but the Member will collect royalties direct in relation to their own repertoire.

A 5% commission fee will be applied to members who earn royalties from MCPS' administration of Related Party Exclusions and do not collect their royalties via MCPS. The fee will be calculated quarterly in arrears at 5% of the excluded royalty, subject to a minimum charge of £25 per quarter, and will be invoiced within 14 days of the end of the quarter. Invoices will be subject to payment terms of 28 days from the date of issue. If no excluded royalties have been earned for a quarter, then no charge will be levied for that period.

The standard AP.2 / AP.2A commission rate will apply for any record company not excluded.

To apply for AP.2 / AP.2A exclusion, you must provide a letter from a solicitor, accountant or bank manager on their official headed paper, giving the name and full postal address of the record company and confirming that you and the record company are related parties.

VP.2 / VP.2A: A member may exclude any Video Company from MCPS Licensing and Collection, however a higher commission rate will be charged on thos companies MCPS does not license.

Record Company/ies and / or Video Company/ies you wish to exclude:

Supporting Documentation

Along with a fully completed and signed PRS for Music Publisher Membership Application, please submit the following documentation:-

Supporting Documentation

Along with a fully completed and signed MCPS Publisher Membership Application, please submit the following documentation:-

Supporting Documentation

Along with a fully completed and signed MCPS / PRS for Music Publisher Membership Application, please submit the following documentation:-

Sole Trader Documentation

	a photocopy of your birth certificate or passport or driving licence
	a copy of your business headed notepaper

Partnership Documentation

	a photocopy of the partnership agreement, plus a copy of each partner's birth certificate, passport or driving licence
	a copy of any partnership agreements
	a copy of your business headed notepaper

Limited Company Documentation

	a copy of the company's Certificate of Incorporation
	a copy of your business headed notepaper

Limited Liability Partnership Documentation

	a copy of the company's Certificate of Registration
	a copy of your business headed notepaper

MCPS Documentation

	documentation / evidence confirming mechanical usage
	fully completed and signed MCPS Publisher Licensing and Collection Mandate
	admission fee of £400.00, inclusive of VAT (cheque payable to MCPS Ltd.)

PRS for Music Documentation

	documentation / evidence confirming performance usage
	fully completed and signed PRS Publisher Member Agreement
	admission fee of £400.00, inclusive of VAT (cheque payable to PRS for Music)

	FAILURE TO PROVIDE THE ABOVE ITEMS WILL DELAY YOUR APPLICATION

Please return your application and supporting documentation to:

PRS for Music

Member Admissions

41 Streatham High Rd

London

SW16 1ER

Please tick if you want us to issue VAT Invoice(s) for admission fee(s).

Data Protection Act 1998

PRS for Music will use all information supplied for administration of your membership agreement and other related purposes. We may disclose your information to other PRS for Music associated companies, our agents and service providers for these purposes. They or we may contact you by mail, telephone, e-mail or fax in connection with your membership. We may transfer your information overseas to affiliated societies in order to fulfil our contract with you.

Data Protection Act 1998

MCPS Limited will use all information supplied for administration of your membership agreement and other related purposes. We may disclose your information to other PRS for Music associated companies, our agents and service providers for these purposes. They or we may contact you by mail, telephone, e-mail or fax in connection with your membership. We may transfer your information overseas to affiliated societies in order to fulfil our contract with you.

Data Protection Act 1998

	I would like to receive PRS for Music emails containing useful information such as career advice, music industry event invites and news. These emails will only ever come from PRS for Music, even when they refer to third party products or services. I understand that my interactions with these emails will be tracked to improve my experience.
	I am happy for PRS for Music to share my contact details with the PRS Foundation http://prsfoundation.com/ and the PRS for Music Members Benevolent Fund http://www.prsformusicfund.com/ so that these organisations can contact me directly about their work, opportunities available to support them and services that may be of interest to me.
	I am happy for PRS for Music to share my email address with candidates for the Performing Right Society Director's Ballot in advance of the AGM each year so that the candidates can contact me directly by email with canvassing materials (NB Voting and Principal Voting are eligible to vote in the Ballot).
	I am happy for PRS for Music to share my contact details with BASCA, MPA and Musician's Union so that these organisations can contact me directly about their work, opportunities available to support them and services that may be of interest to me.
	You can opt out of any of the above at any time by contacting us. Please note that you will still receive non-marketing emails from PRS for Music which contain essential information about your membership including updates regarding royalty distributions, AGMs and any fundamental changes to how we operate as a society.

Societies	PRS for Music Only	Trading status	Sole Trader
	MCPS Only		Partnership
	MCPS & PRS for Music		Limited Liability Partnership
			Limited Company

Marketing preferences
	I would like to receive PRS for Music emails containing useful information such as career advice, music industry event invites and news. These emails will only ever come from PRS for Music, even when they refer to third party products or services. I understand that my interactions with these emails will be tracked to improve my experience.
	I am happy for PRS for Music to share my contact details with the PRS Foundation http://prsfoundation.com/ and the PRS for Music Members Benevolent Fund http://www.prsformusicfund.com/ so that these organisations can contact me directly about their work, opportunities available to support them and services that may be of interest to me.
	I am happy for PRS for Music to share my email address with candidates for the Performing Right Society Director's Ballot in advance of the AGM each year so that the candidates can contact me directly by email with canvassing materials (NB Voting and Principal Voting are eligible to vote in the Ballot).
	I am happy for PRS for Music to share my contact details with BASCA, MPA and Musician's Union so that these organisations can contact me directly about their work, opportunities available to support them and services that may be of interest to me.
	You can opt out of any of the above at any time by contacting us. Please note that you will still receive non-marketing emails from PRS for Music which contain essential information about your membership including updates regarding royalty distributions, AGMs and any fundamental changes to how we operate as a society.

Name of bank or building society	Sort code

Address of bank	Account number

Name in which account is held

Pay reference details

Audio & Audio-Visual Product Mandates	MCPS Only	Member Only	MCPS On 1st Call
Theatrical motion pictures
TV advertisements
Radio advertisements
TV programmes
All other non-retail sound bearing copies
Premiums
Digital memory devices
Novelties
Music quiz games
Non-core covermounts
Non-core karaoke
Non-core exhibitions
Generic station promotions

Join as a publisher

Changes to joining process due to COVID-19

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