PRS for Music AGM 2009
Guest speaker Lord Stephen Carter
The Annual General Meeting for PRS for Music took place on Thursday 30 April at PRS for Music’s offices in Berners Street, London.
The keynote speech came from Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting, Lord Stephen Carter.
Speaking at the AGM Carter said he is preparing copyright law for the digital age and promised to meet the complex needs of content creators within new legislation. He gave an update on initiatives designed to make the U.K. a major player in the global digital economy including the interim "Digital Britain" report released in January.
When the final report of "Digital Britain" is published in June it will include the government's position on intellectual property and getting ISPs (Internet service providers) and rights holders to work together on tackling copyright-infringing P2P users will be high on the agenda.
In the next five years, we're going to be living in a world where handheld devices, portable devices and open-space communications mean the vast majority will be living with open high-speed interoperable networks. The way people shift content will be unrecognizable. Getting the right framework in the next two to three years is critical.
Ellis Rich, Chairman of PRS addressed the meeting.
PRS for Music Chief Executive Steve Porter reported on the Societies progress and confirmed the financial results for 2008 (see below).
2008 (£m) |
2007 (£m) |
% |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Broadcasting and online |
180.2 |
155.5 |
16% |
139.8 |
121.2 |
15% |
|
Public Performance |
146.6 |
133.6 |
10% |
Sub-total performing revenue |
466.6 |
410.3 |
14% |
Recorded Media |
141.6 |
151.8 |
-7% |
Total |
608.2 |
562.1 |
8% |
Click here to view a full breakdown of our financial results
This year there were two vacancies for writer directors and two vacancies for publisher directors. At the closing date for nominations, both the writer and publisher categories had the same number of candidates as vacancies.
This meant that the candidates were not required to participate in a ballot to determine their eligibility for appointment.
The two writer director appointments that were confirmed by the meeting are Simon Darlow and Lynsey de Paul. The two publisher members are Stuart Hornall (Hornall Brothers Music) and Simon Platz (Bucks Music).
