Long has previously sat on the PRS board of directors and is also a trustee of the PRS for Music Foundation.
All four directors will sit on the board for the next three years, after which time they will be up for re-election.
The appointments were made at the society’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 29 May at 30 Euston Square, London.
The meeting was hosted by PRS chairman Guy Fletcher, who welcomed members and guests to the society’s hundredth AGM, in this, its centenary year.
He congratulated members and staff for an outstanding year of royalty collections in 2013, adding: ‘It goes without saying that I feel honoured to be standing here as your chairman in our centenary year and I am also delighted to confirm that, once again, we’ve increased our royalty revenues and consequently the money we’re able to pay out to our members.
‘You know, in our first year of business, back in 1914, we collected £1,572 for our 199 members. Fast forward to today and we’re collecting almost £666m for over 100,000 members. That should make us all feel very proud.’
He went on to pay homage to the society’s songwriter and composer members who have passed away over the last year, including Philip Chevron (The Pogues), Steve Martland, Larry Ashmore, Kenny Ball, Derek Watkins and, most recently, Sir John Taverner and PRS director Peter Callander.
PRS for Music chief executive Robert Ashcroft used his address to update guests on the society’s new multi-territory licensing initiatives, its 2013 business performance and the work PRS is doing to support copyright protection in the UK and Europe.
Talking about the society’s online business, he warned against over-optimism in the downloads market. Although digital music revenues crossed the £60m barrier for ths first time in 2013, he said: ‘Over the past few years the need to replace the revenues from declining physical sales has dominated the agenda, but even as we are proud to have grown our Online royalties by another 18 percent to just over £60m last year, we have to admit that this headline growth does not provide a true picture of what is happening in the market.
'2013 saw the first decline in downloads - relatively small, it must be said, but one that might be quite pronounced in the years to come, and downloads, as you know, represent a significant proportion of our online income.'
Later, Craig Nunn, PRS for Music’s chief financial officer, delved a little deeper into the society’s financial performance.
He used his speech to analyse PRS for Music’s ongoing success overseas, which delivered an 11.7 percent increase in international revenues, from £180.1m in 2012 to £201.1m in 2013.
Nunn said there were a number of reasons for this but a key factor had been the enormous popularity of UK songwriters and composers on the world stage.
He cited members including Mumford & Sons, Arctic Monkeys and Ellie Goulding, who had enjoying exceptional success throughout 2013, adding that sell-out tours from Robbie Williams, Depeche Mode, Peter Gabriel and Muse had filled stadiums across the world.
‘Television also plays a massive part’, he explained. ‘Global demand for hit UK television shows like Downton Abbey and Sherlock, and the prevalence of PRS for Music repertoire across high growth cable television networks, both helped. The quality of our repertoire is peerless and a source of tremendous pride for us all.’
The AGM ended with a video appeal from the PRS for Music Members Benevolent Fund which urged members to lend their financial support to songwriters and composers in need. Find out more at prsformusicfund.com.
See more on PRS for Music’s 2013 financial results.
All four directors will sit on the board for the next three years, after which time they will be up for re-election.
The appointments were made at the society’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 29 May at 30 Euston Square, London.
The meeting was hosted by PRS chairman Guy Fletcher, who welcomed members and guests to the society’s hundredth AGM, in this, its centenary year.
He congratulated members and staff for an outstanding year of royalty collections in 2013, adding: ‘It goes without saying that I feel honoured to be standing here as your chairman in our centenary year and I am also delighted to confirm that, once again, we’ve increased our royalty revenues and consequently the money we’re able to pay out to our members.
‘You know, in our first year of business, back in 1914, we collected £1,572 for our 199 members. Fast forward to today and we’re collecting almost £666m for over 100,000 members. That should make us all feel very proud.’
He went on to pay homage to the society’s songwriter and composer members who have passed away over the last year, including Philip Chevron (The Pogues), Steve Martland, Larry Ashmore, Kenny Ball, Derek Watkins and, most recently, Sir John Taverner and PRS director Peter Callander.
PRS for Music chief executive Robert Ashcroft used his address to update guests on the society’s new multi-territory licensing initiatives, its 2013 business performance and the work PRS is doing to support copyright protection in the UK and Europe.
Talking about the society’s online business, he warned against over-optimism in the downloads market. Although digital music revenues crossed the £60m barrier for ths first time in 2013, he said: ‘Over the past few years the need to replace the revenues from declining physical sales has dominated the agenda, but even as we are proud to have grown our Online royalties by another 18 percent to just over £60m last year, we have to admit that this headline growth does not provide a true picture of what is happening in the market.
'2013 saw the first decline in downloads - relatively small, it must be said, but one that might be quite pronounced in the years to come, and downloads, as you know, represent a significant proportion of our online income.'
Later, Craig Nunn, PRS for Music’s chief financial officer, delved a little deeper into the society’s financial performance.
He used his speech to analyse PRS for Music’s ongoing success overseas, which delivered an 11.7 percent increase in international revenues, from £180.1m in 2012 to £201.1m in 2013.
Nunn said there were a number of reasons for this but a key factor had been the enormous popularity of UK songwriters and composers on the world stage.
He cited members including Mumford & Sons, Arctic Monkeys and Ellie Goulding, who had enjoying exceptional success throughout 2013, adding that sell-out tours from Robbie Williams, Depeche Mode, Peter Gabriel and Muse had filled stadiums across the world.
‘Television also plays a massive part’, he explained. ‘Global demand for hit UK television shows like Downton Abbey and Sherlock, and the prevalence of PRS for Music repertoire across high growth cable television networks, both helped. The quality of our repertoire is peerless and a source of tremendous pride for us all.’
The AGM ended with a video appeal from the PRS for Music Members Benevolent Fund which urged members to lend their financial support to songwriters and composers in need. Find out more at prsformusicfund.com.
See more on PRS for Music’s 2013 financial results.
