Statement on PRS for Music donations to PRS Foundation
PRS Foundation was formed by PRS for Music in 2000 to enable the investment in new music and support the professional development of songwriters and composers. Since its establishment PRS for Music has provided to PRS Foundation close to £40 million. In addition to the donations, PRS for Music also subsidises the operating costs for PRS Foundation. PRS for Music has been the primary funder of PRS Foundation’s activities throughout its 22 years. An annual donation of between £1.25 million and £1.5 million has been made until 2015, increasing to between £2.5 million and £3 million in recent years, reflecting the availability of funds at the time.
The donations from PRS for Music are funded through income generated separately from the royalties paid out to our members. This income has declined significantly over recent years, not least because of historically low interest rates. As such, the difficult decision was made by the Members' Council to reduce our donations to reflect the funds available for this income at this time.
This means we can and will continue to provide PRS Foundation with at least £1 million annually from 2024, as well as continue to subsidise their operational costs and support them in every way possible to raise funding from other sources, so they can continue their important work. In addition to this, we will continue to fulfil our additional commitments, to fund a wide range of events, grass roots organisations and teams, that provide developmental opportunities for music creators across the UK and beyond.
We have worked in partnership with PRS Foundation, as it has grown into the UK’s leading charitable funder of new music and talent development. We are also fully committed to supporting our members in the broadest way possible. In April 2020, PRS for Music, in collaboration with its charity partners PRS Members’ Fund and PRS Foundation, launched the PRS Emergency Relief Fund, and has since paid out over £2.2 million across 5,500 grants to songwriters and composers facing severe financial hardship because of the coronavirus pandemic. The ramifications of which continue. Never has the income generated from the use of their works been needed more by members.
With this said, we are clear that our primary purpose is to collect the royalties due to members and to distribute those royalties as quickly and accurately as possible.
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
