PRS for Music celebrates international songwriting talent with sister CMOs at PRS Presents
Le Boom, Halo Maud and Baloji perform at a very special International PRS Presents – pictures available now
Four European CMOs and their members joined forces at PRS for Music headquarters, to celebrate exceptional songwriting talent and its global reach.
At such a pivotal time for European creators, CEOs and executive directors from IMRO (Ireland), SACEM (France) and SABAM (Belgium), came together with UK music industry, local businesses and media, for the first ever International PRS Presents.
PRS for Music, the membership organisation that represents more than 125,000 songwriters, producers, composers and music publishers in the UK and across the globe, invited Le Boom, (IMRO), Halo Maud, (SACEM) and Baloji, (SABAM), to perform on the PRS stage.
With a number of significant major live concerts taking place in Europe and the continuing success of PRS writers internationally, income generated from members’ music played abroad became PRS for Music’s biggest revenue stream in 2016, reaching £233.7m in 2016, a 5% increase (£11.2m) year-on-year.
PRS for Music has collaborated with all three sister societies on projects in recent years to enrich cross-working relationships and support the development of music creators. In 2013, PRS for Music and IMRO partnered for the Media Writing Mentorship as part of CultureTECH festival. The scheme offered 12 songwriters and composers the opportunity to create works for TV. In 2016, Belgian society SABAM joined ICE, the pan-European licensing hub created by PRS for Music, STIM (Sweden) and GEMA (Germany). Both SABAM and SACEM previously worked with PRS for Music on the Global Repertoire Database project, which aimed to create a global one-stop shop for music ownership rights. Most recently, SACEM and PRS for Music have worked with US performing rights organisation ASCAP on a blockchain-based project to improve data accuracy for rightsholders. All four societies have continued to work closely together to address ‘transfer of value’ and copyright issues at an EU parliamentary level.
Opening the evening, Le Boom, (IMRO), an electro-pop duo from Dublin, got the crowd dancing to tunes including debut single ‘What We Do’ and ‘Don’t Need It Now’. Comprising friends Christy Leech and Aimie Mallon, Le Boom formed in June 2016 and have already been making waves internationally, performing at Iceland Airwaves and taking a tour to New York. Back home, they were nominated for Best Irish Act in Irish Times’ Ticket Awards 2017.
French multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Halo Maud (SACEM), brought her hazy pop and reverb-drenched vocals to the stage next. The chanteuse was first picked up by French-language label collective La Souterraine, who featured her first single ‘Dans la Nuit’, one of the highlights of the evening. Signing to renowned indie label Heavenly Recordings late last year, her performance was captivating and a definite sign of things to come for the Parisian.
As the final act of the night, Congolese-born Belgian rapper Baloji (SABAM), commanded a rapt audience with tracks from his 2008 solo debut, Hotel Impala, an album written as a reply to a letter he received from his mother after a 25-year absence. Songs performed from upcoming album, 137 Avenue Kaniama, out next month, will be the first album for the musician, poet and film director, to be released on the critically-acclaimed Bella Union label.
Music is a universal language of its own, one that transcends country borders. It also has an intrinsic value, which we at PRS for Music, as well as our peers at SABAM, SACEM and IMRO, all champion and fight to protect. I would like to thank our sister organisations for coming tonight, and showing us the brilliance of their own members.
Tonight has been a great way to celebrate the music creators that we all represent, and I’d like to thank PRS for Music for hosting us in their King’s Cross office. It doesn’t matter where you are from or what language you sing in – we are all here to support music creators.
As we continue to build on our collaborative projects with PRS for Music, this has been a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the special relationship we have with our sister CMO and bring our collaboration alive on stage with this fun event.
It has been a real pleasure to see our member Baloji perform amongst such a brilliant international talent tonight, with SACEM and IMRO members also providing excellent music.
We feel honoured that PRS for Music asked us to play at this special gig. Royalties have been so important to our career, so it’s a genuine pleasure to take part in a celebration like this.
PRS for Music began hosting PRS Presents in 2015 to celebrate the wealth of fantastic talent represented by the membership organisation. Previous events have featured, among others, BRITs Critics’ Choice winner Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Mercury Prize-nominated singer Ghostpoet, Dream Wife and Marika Hackman, while a special PRS Presents: Grime, saw Lady Leshurr, Elf Kid and D Double E comprise an exciting line-up.
About PRS for Music
PRS for Music is a world-leading music collective management organisation representing the rights of more than 165,000 talented songwriters, composers and music publishers around the globe. Headquartered in the UK, it works diligently on behalf of its members to grow and protect the value of their rights. With a focus on innovation and integrity, PRS for Music is redefining the global standard for music royalties to ensure creators are paid whenever their musical compositions and songs are streamed, downloaded, broadcast, performed and played in public. In 2022, PRS for Music collected £964m and paid out £836.2m in royalties. prsformusic.com
