Digital Music Now Pays Artists More Than Pubs

UK songwriters, composers and music publishers received 3.2 percent higher royalty earnings in 2011, as new online music services boosted payouts.

Payouts via PRS For Music from online services surged 45.3 percent to £38.5 million, overtaking pubs and clubs, which must pay PRS for playing recorded music, as an earner for the artists. Many UK bars closed last year.

PRS For Music credits both existing services like iTunes and emerging streaming and subscription services like Spotify, Deezer and We7 for the growth.

go_datamodule_723641.original_labels = ["TV","Radio","Online","Ringtones","International","Pubs and clubs","Live","Hotels and restaurants","Shops","Industrial Premises","Cinemas","Other performance","Audio products (CD)","General entertainment (DVD)","Cover mounts","Other recorded media"];

Highcharts.setOptions( {"lang":{"numericSymbols":["K","M","B","T"]}} );

(function( $ ) { $(function() { var options_723641 = go_datamodule_723641;

options_723641.series = [{ name: 'TV', connectNulls: true, data: [89900000, 105100000, 96100000, 96100000, 101600000] }, { name: '', connectNulls: true, data: [49500000, 51800000, 48600000, 49500000, 46800000] }, { name: 'Online', connectNulls: true, data: [9700000, 17600000, 25400000, 26500000, 38500000] }, { name: '', connectNulls: true, data: [6400000, 5700000, 2500000, 1100000, 600000] }, { name: 'International', connectNulls: true, data: [121200000, 139800000, 166900000, 169800000, 187700000] }, { name: '', connectNulls: true, data: [40400000, 39700000, 37600000, 36400000, 36300000] }, { name: 'Live', connectNulls: true, data: [19100000, 21500000, 22300000, 20800000, 22500000] }, { name: '', connectNulls: true, data: [15600000, 18000000, 18500000, 19100000, 19300000] }, { name: 'Shops', connectNulls: true, data: [15200000, 17300000, 17800000, 18800000, 18800000] }, { name: '', connectNulls: true, data: [9000000, 12800000, 15000000, 15500000, 16800000] }, { name: 'Cinemas', connectNulls: true, data: [5400000, 6300000, 6300000, 7600000, 7000000] }, { name: '', connectNulls: true, data: [28900000, 32600000, 32600000, 32800000, 33200000] }, { name: 'Audio products (CD)', connectNulls: true, data: [118900000, 103100000, 95100000, 87300000, 76000000] }, { name: '', connectNulls: true, data: [12400000, 16500000, 15800000, 15600000, 13400000] }, { name: '', connectNulls: true, data: [5000000, 4700000, 3300000, 2100000, 1400000] }, { name: 'Other recorded media', connectNulls: true, data: [15500000, 17300000, 14300000, 12200000, 10800000] }]; options_723641.tooltip = { formatter: function() { var series_name = ''; var x_name = this.x;

if ( this.series.name != options_723641.title.text ) { series_name = this.series.name + ': '; }// END if

if ( go_datamodule_723641.hasOwnProperty( 'original_labels' ) ) { x_name = go_datamodule_723641.original_labels[ this.point.x ]; }// END if

return series_name + x_name + ': £' + go_datamodule.add_commas(this.y) + ''; } };

options_723641.plotOptions.formatter = function() { return '£' + go_datamodule.add_commas(this.y) + ''; };

options_723641.xAxis.categories = ["2007","2008","2009","2010","2011"];

options_723641.chart.events = {}; options_723641.chart.events.load = function( e, chart ) { $(this.legend.allItems).each( function() { var current_height = this.legendSymbol.height; var desired_height = options_723641.legend.symbolHeight;

var diff = desired_height - current_height; var current_y = this.legendSymbol.y;

this.legendSymbol.attr( 'height', options_723641.legend.symbolHeight ); this.legendSymbol.attr( 'y', current_y - diff ); }); };

options_723641 = Highcharts.merge( highcharts_theme, options_723641 );

$( '#highcharts-data-wp-chart-t-render-723641' ).highcharts( options_723641, function( chart ) { } );

highcharts_data_wp_chart_723641 = $( '#highcharts-data-wp-chart-t-render-723641' ).highcharts();

}); })(jQuery);

Ringtones’ contribution continued to fall, to just £600,000 for the year.

Online royalties are only six percent of the total collected by PRS For Music but are nonetheless welcome because payouts from sales of CDs and DVDs fell by 13.3 percent.

PRS CEO Robert Ashcroft: “The licensed digital market is now delivering a significant income stream for our members. This goes some way to replacing revenues lost from the declining CD market although online piracy continues to be a problem.”

PRS For Music confirmed that it renewed Spotify’s licensing deal in 2011.

The highest royalty growth came from collection deals PRS signed in overseas countries.