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Performing Right Society

I am grateful for the opportunity to raise in the House an issue that has given cause for concern, especially to small businesses and voluntary organisations in my constituency. The debate on performing rights licensing is timely in that it follows hard on the heels of the closing date of the music licensing review consultation. Perhaps I should begin by explaining the role of the Performing Right Society. It is primarily to raise money by licensing playing or using music by collecting fees and distributing them through royalties to the musicians responsible for writing and publishing the music that we all enjoy in the UK and worldwide. Given that 90 per cent. of the Performing Right Society’s members earn less than £5,000 in royalties a year, most of us would say that obtaining funds from those licences is reasonable. At least nine members of the PRS are based in my constituency, and the wider south-west is blessed with prolific and successful artists and writers. It is therefore right that the PRS should look after the interests of its members by collecting the royalties they are owed. The creators of music should be protected by a law, which provides that others cannot use the product of their labours for free. Indeed, most of the small businesses that have contacted me have pointedly made it clear that they do not begrudge those people seeking recompense for their valued work. The PRS can charge for virtually all the songs played on the radio and TV, on CDs and online. There are alternatives, however, and companies such as Fresh Air Studios—which is based in Plymouth—can source music for corporate productions that is exempt from PRS. By law, under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, if someone uses music in public, they require permission, unless the music is PRS-exempt. So, how does the PRS collect the licence fees? It continually contacts businesses across the UK to help them understand the need for a PRS music licence, and more than 100,000 businesses were contacted in 2007. Some 350,000 businesses across the UK currently have PRS licences. However, it is that collection process that has caused businesses to lobby me. In the light of their concerns, I met representatives of the PRS yesterday to discuss the matters raised with me and to listen to their position ahead of today’s debate. Some of the issues that had been drawn to my attention included the methods used to target small business owners who may not even require a licence; the implications of the cost of the licence for small organisations and businesses; the lack of clarity in the process; and the lack of information about alternative sources of music.