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PPL has posted positive results for its last financial year - but according to its CEO, the company still has much work to do

22.06.12 MusicWeek 23

LICENSING BY PETER LEATHEM, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PPL

Moving forward we need to look at the pricing

in some of our tariffs for public performance licensing. Music has real value to businesses and we are currently consulting on our Specially Featured Entertainment (SFE) Tariff. This is when music is used with a DJ and for dancing, for example, in nightclubs and late night bars. PPL commissioned independent economic research, using a process called choice modelling, to calculate the value of the music to the customer of such premises. This research and a range of other analysis

F

ollowing on from the announcement of PPL’s 2011 results last week and our headline 7% growth, it simply underscores how much I

consider it to be a massive privilege to be CEO of PPL and how important the role is that PPL performs on behalf of its members. I have held a range of senior roles over nearly 10

years at PPL and have very clear ideas on how to take the company forward. A key part of making progress will be to listen to members and licensees to ensure that we are continuing to respond appropriately to their requirements and improving our level of services to them – one that is reliable, professional, efficient, cost-effective and transparent. A key priority is to continue to raise awareness

of PPL and music licensing in the business community. For those businesses that play recorded music, but are less convinced of the reasons for having to pay for doing so, we will continue to provide as much information as we can about the benefits of playing music. In return it is critical that we listen and, where

appropriate, we respond. This is why last year we launched an independent complaints review service as a free, external service for any dissatisfied public performance customers to use if our existing Comments, Feedback and Complaints procedure does not resolve matters for them. Another area of focus for public performance

licensing is joint working with PRS for Music. We have already achieved much to date and we are fully committed to do more together in the future.

clearly indicates that our SFE Tariff, as it currently stands, does not achieve a fair price for the use of sound recordings and we will continue to consult with the relevant sectors and their Trade Bodies for the remainder of 2012. Moving on to the issue of broadcasting licensing

traditional radio and television audiences have remained remarkably robust. With the television sector in particular, PPL has been able to reach agreements to extend the scope of our licences, covering new delivery methods and platforms resulting in the greater use of our repertoire in UK television programming. On the member side, the focus must be on

continuing to improve every aspect of our interaction and service and we will continue to reach out to current and prospective members, by attending yet more industry events nationally and internationally. These become important opportunities to explain more about PPL’s services as do our workshops and clinics for members where we can help answer any queries about using our new IT systems, and, due to popular demand, we now plan to hold quarterly “members’ open days”. We have an ever-growing repertoire base

prompting payments to an increasing number of record companies and performers. The number of services we license and the complexities of their use of music are similarly increasing every year. IT development is, and will continue to be, critical to our business. Completing the rebuild of our repertoire

matching and revenue distribution systems for last

ABOVE Tariff tweaking: PPL is working with PRS for Music to calculate the value of music to customers including night clubs and late- night bars

year’s June distribution was a considerable achievement but has brought huge efficiencies from which we will benefit again at the distribution about to be made at the end of this month – which I am delighted to say will be the biggest in PPL’s history. Our systems rely on the quality of the sound recording data delivered to PPL, whether in relation to the extensive repertoire of sound recordings created over many decades or the nearly 10,200 new sound recordings (on average) reported to us each week last year. Having built these new IT

“We have an ever-growing repertoire base prompting payments to an increasing number of record companies and performers. The number of services we license and the complexities of their use of music are increasing every year” PETER LEATHEM, PPL

systems, one of the next areas of interest for us is how we collaborate with music licensing companies overseas and start to consolidate the management of sound recording data and back office IT systems. PPL is leading the world in the collective management of sound recordings and we want to collaborate with our overseas partners so that in turn we can more efficiently and

more cost-effectively collect increasing amounts of money for members from overseas. It is also important to highlight that we are also

actively contributing to the important ongoing range of copyright reviews and proposals for reform working closely with UK Music. PPL, like many companies in the wider creative sector, remains concerned at the current direction of Government policy on copyright, some aspects of which directly impact us. It is critical that we assist on the policy forming

front and we will certainly be making sure that we fully engage in the consultation processes and seek to emphasise the importance of PPL’s collections to its members, our continued commitment to service and efficiency, the benefits for licensees and members alike of the collective licensing solutions we offer and the importance of the revenues we collect as part of the growing creative sector that is so important for UK plc.