PPL paid artists and other rightsholders $21.5m in international neighboring rights money in Q1 – equivalent to nearly $240k a day – Music Business Worldwide

Neighboring rights – the collection of performance royalties for recorded music rightsholders outside their home territory – is big business.

According to the IFPI‘s recently published IFPI Global Music Report, the global neighboring rights market grew to USD $2.5 billion in revenue in 2022 – up 8.6% YoY, and accounting for 9.4% of the worldwide recorded music market.

This week, UK-based PPL announced that it will pay out GBP £17.4 million (USD $21.5m at current exchange rates) in its Q1 distribution of international revenues (aka neighboring rights revenues).

That money is distributed, said the London-headquartered, non-profit org, to over 26,000 performers and recording rightsholders in the UK and around the world.

The first of four payments made by PPL annually, the royalties paid out by PPL provide an important revenue stream for session musicians and well-known performers, as well as independent and major music companies, as part of their overall portfolio of income.

PPL’s Q1 2023 payout comprised of revenue collected from 76 CMOs (collective management organisations), with significant payments from France, Germany, Italy and the USA.

Commenting on the Q1 payment, Laurence Oxenbury, PPL’s Director of International, said: “We are pleased to continue delivering world-leading returns to those who invest their time, energy and talent in making the music we all love.

“This latest payment is testament to our efforts and a positive reflection of the work we are driving forward with our members to improve the data quality underpinning the flow of royalties around the world.”

Laurence Oxenbury, PPL

“Running an independent record company or being a musician can be a precarious business; our focus remains on being a constant and stable source of support for our members as the industry navigates change and various challenges.

“This latest payment is testament to our efforts and a positive reflection of the work we are driving forward with our members to improve the data quality underpinning the flow of royalties around the world.”

In Q1 2022, PPL paid out international revenues of GBP £26.3 million. (This GBP figure is obviously affected by variations in currency exchange rates each quarter.)

Prominent artists and producers who rely on PPL for their neighboring rights collections globally include eight-time Grammy winner Anderson .Paak and ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, plus Rita Ora, Steve Angello, and Trevor Horn.

PPL collects neighbouring rights royalties outside the UK where recorded music is used and rights exist for the use of recorded music via broadcast (radio and TV), cable retransmission, public performance, private copying, and dubbing (the copying of recorded music for commercial purposes).

The org also runs a separate domestic collection operation, which receives and distributes performance rights royalties in its home nation of the UK.

In total, PPL paid out GBP £244.9 million (USD $301.97m) to 165,000 performers and recording rightsholders in 2022.

These monies were collected by PPL for the use of recorded music in the UK and internationally and were paid out across the company’s four quarterly distributions in 2022, in March, June, September and December.

That total payout figure, of £244.9 million, marked a 7.1% YoY increase versus the £228.7 million that was paid out in 2021.Music Business Worldwide