PRS UNDER FIRE FOR LIVESTREAM TARIFF 

More than 50 music managers have signed a letter to PRS for Music saying that its proposed tariff for livestreamed events is “unworkable for artists.” The U.K. PRO reportedly plans to apply a rate of 8% to 17% of gross ticket receipts.

Organized by the MMF and the Featured Artist Coalition, the letter, addressed to PRS for Music CEO Andrea Martin, notes a “staggering disconnect” between the PRS tariff for live in-person concerts, which is 4%-4.2%, and the proposed rate for livestreamed events. They also say PRS plans to charge the new rate retrospectively for concerts that have already taken place.

This would render livestreaming unsustainable for both “the smallest emerging artists and the biggest superstar acts,” reads the letter, which has been signed by the managers of acts including Dua Lipa, Biffy Clyro, Liam Gallagher, Fontaines D.C., Yungblud and Arlo Parks, as well as FAC member artists and songwriters including Ed O’Brien, Aluna Francis, Dave Rowntree and Sandie Shaw MBE.

The letter continues: “For the sake of all artists, songwriters and the wider industry, it is crucial that this new format is allowed to grow and thrive. Charging artists up to four times the live rate strangles rather than nurtures this innovation. For some of the smaller artists who have just covered their costs livestreaming, it will be impossible to find this additional money retrospectively.”

The signees are asking PRS to reconsider their approach and engage the music community in a “full and transparent consultation,” which should also “provide certainty that PRS actually holds a mandate to license livestreaming events on a global basis.” Until that process is concluded, the MMF and FAC plan to apply the current live tariff for in-person events to ticketed livestreams.