Founding and early history (1934–1956)

PPL was formed in May 1934 by the record companies EMI and Decca Records, following a court case against Bristol coffee shop Stephen Carwardine & Co, which had been entertaining its customers by playing records. EMI, then called The Gramophone Company, argued it was against the law to play the record in public without first receiving the permission of the copyright owners. The judge agreed, establishing this as a legal principle. EMI and Decca formed Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL) to carry out this licensing role, and opened the first office in London.

The Copyright Act 1956 led to the expansion of PPL's role to also cover the licensing of broadcasters that played recorded music. Further copyright law changes in 1988 strengthened PPL's licensing position.^[17]

Performers' right to equitable remuneration (1996)

In 1996, performers were given the right to receive "equitable remuneration" where recordings of their performances were played in public or broadcast and until 2006, these rights were collected for performers by Performing Artists' Media Rights Association Ltd (PAMRA) and Association of United Recording Artists (AURA) for non-featured and featured performers respectively.^[18][5] Article 15 of the WPPT reads; "Performers and producers of phonograms shall enjoy the right to a single equitable remuneration for the direct or indirect use of phonograms published for commercial purposes for broadcasting or for any communication to the public". When performers were granted the right to equitable remuneration through legislation, streaming services such as YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music did not exist and there is still no statutory right to remuneration for artist and performers when their performances are exploited by streaming services.^[19] Unlike its German counterpart GVL, PPL do not collect Secondary Exploitation Rights for performers; in the UK this is currently within the remit of the Musicians Union.^[20][21]

Mergers (2006)

Performer organisations PAMRA and AURA merged with PPL in November 2006, leading to an annual meeting and dedicated board specifically for performers.^[22][23] Performers had no rights until the right to equitable remuneration was brought in to law in 1996, at which point PAMRA and AURA came into being; PAMRA collecting for non-featured performers and AURA for featured ones.^[24][25]

Joint venture (2016)

PPL PRS Ltd is a private limited company incorporated in the UK on 14 September 2016. It is equally owned by PPL and PRS with an initial shareholding allocation of one ordinary share to each party, creating one music copyright collective organisation in the UK that is responsible for licensing music and collection of fees.^[26] The company's stated aim is to provide the best music licensing experience in the world.^[27][22]

Music licensing for business

Any business that plays recorded music within PPL's repertoire in public, such as a shop, bar, office, restaurant, gym, community building, not-for-profit organisation; or for activities such as dance classes, needs to have a PPL licence. Exceptions are hotels, guest houses and bed and breakfast accommodation that have fewer than 25 rooms and have no areas that are open to non-residents, such as a bar or restaurant.

A PPL licence is required when recorded music, within PPL's repertoire, including radio and television, is played in public. There is no statutory definition of "playing in public" and "public performance" but the UK courts have given guidance on its meaning and ruled that it means any playing of music outside of a domestic setting, for example at a workplace, public event or in the course of any business activities. No licence is required for listening on headphones. The playing of recorded music as part of domestic home life, or when the audience consists entirely of friends and/or family does not require a PPL licence.

A PPL licence gives the licence holder permission to play recorded music from PPL's repertoire; the vast majority of commercially released music in the UK. Playing music that is outside of its copyright term or that is freely licensed does not require a PPL licence.

In 2018 PPL and PRS for Music joined forces to streamline music licensing for businesses, coming together to launch PPL PRS Ltd.^[39]

Music licensing for radio broadcasting

PPL licenses radio stations based in the UK, Isle of Man and Channel Islands to use recorded music within its repertoire in all forms of radio, from traditional FM/AM broadcasting to satellite and online streaming.

Music licensing for television broadcasting

With the relevant PPL music licence, broadcasters can use recorded music within PPL's repertoire and/or music videos in their programming with the permission of the performer and copyright owner. Applications for music licences can be made online.^[40]

Record company members

Anyone who owns or holds an exclusive licence to the rights for recorded music that is broadcast or played in public in the UK can join PPL as a recording rights-holder member. This can include major record labels, independent labels, self-releasing artists or companies that have purchased the relevant rights.^[3]

Performer members

Anyone who has performed on recorded music can join PPL as a performer member. If an audible contribution has been made to a recorded music track, the performer could be eligible for royalties. This includes lead singers, choir members and musicians who have contributed to a recording, and could be eligible for PPL royalties. Inaudible contributions such as a conductor are also eligible.

The equitable remuneration percentage paid to performers varies^[41] as defined in PPL UK Distribution Rules, Schedule 5: Performer Allocation Rules^[42] with featured performers receiving the largest share and non-featured a smaller share. The percentage allocation process is complex and dependent on a number of factors.

PPL Performers are placed into categories on the Sound Recordings they have performed on; featured, other featured, and non-featured.