[cma-l] Music Royalties

Fri Feb 25 17:34:58 GMT 2011

Hi Nick

Please send me what you have received from PRS for Music.

The licence fee for PRS for Music this year is £636 plus VAT which is £763-20.

The MCPS licence fee for the period 1st October 2010 – 30th September
2011 is a flat fee of £182-48 plus VAT which is £218-98.

http://www.prsformusic.com/users/broadcastandonline/Radio/Communityradiolicence/Pages/default.aspx

I don't understand what you mean by "this year they're mithering it
appears for more" - the licence fee is increased annually in line with
inflation, VAT has now been increased to 20% and there is the MCPS
charge, as discussed.  If all this does not account for the uplift
that you see then email me off-list please so that I can investigate
further.

With best regards

Bill
-- 
Community Media Association
http://www.commedia.org.uk/
http://twitter.com/community_media
Facebook Fans: http://bit.ly/cog8n5

Canstream Internet Radio & Video
http://www.canstream.co.uk/

On 25 February 2011 16:57, Office - ccr-fm <office at ccr-fm.co.uk> wrote:
>
> Bill n' all
>
> Your e-mails explaining the points and legalities are as always very
> helpful, well written and do explain thoroughly the issues.
>
> There is one main issue though ......... WE CAN ALL KEEP ARGUING TILL THE
> COWS COME HOME .......... we are dealing with laws, legalities and people
> that quite frankly couldn't give a monkeys cuss about our situation.
>
> Their hands are out, the rubber gloves are on and greased up and they are
> pulling on the teets !    the strokes are long and precise and they are
> milking the hell out of everything ........   let's stop debating and
> arguing and let's start doing.
>
> Anyway, I have still not had an answer regarding anyone who pays over the
> £700     does that mean no one does ??
>
> We have always paid the £700 but this year they're mithering it appears for
> more.
> I even ended up with the big chief writing to me .....          by the way,
> is anyone going to the seminar next month to be patronised ?     you can see
> it now, there'll be four big whigs up front talking all legalities and
> giving a history lesson, and all the people in the tuppenny crush auditorium
> will be like one of those nodding Churchill dogs that you see in the back
> windows of cars.
> How embarrassing !
>
> No thanks
>
> Regards
>
> Nick .................. see you next week .... livin' for the weekend !
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk
> Sent: 25 February 2011 15:56
> To: cma-l at commedia.org.uk
> Subject: Re: [cma-l] Music Royalties
>
> Ian
>
> Many thanks for your email. I will try to answer your points in turn.
>
> The CMA is not a licence fee collection agency and we do not enforce
> MCPS licensing.  The CMA has argued and continues to argue for a
> complete and total review of the music licensing system as it is
> applied to the community radio sector by PPL and PRS for Music.
>
> It is the CMA's argument that all music licensing fees should be
> reduced for the sector on the basis that under the terms of the
> Community Radio Order 2004 community stations are defined as a local
> amenity provided primarily for the good of the members of the public
> or for a particular community, rather than primarily for commercial
> reasons. They are also required to deliver social gain, be run on a
> not-for-profit basis, involve members of their target communities and
> be accountable to the communities that they serve.
>
> The CMA would also like to see a distinction made between those
> stations that carry advertising and those that do not - with a lower
> licence fee applying to those stations that do not carry advertising.
> We have also made the case that the Annual Net Broadcasting Revenue
> bands for both PRS for Music and PPL should be revised upwards in
> order to allow community stations to generate more advertising and
> sponsorship revenue before the higher licensing tariffs are applied.
>
> The CMA does not act for the retail sector and so we would not wish to
> represent their interests to PPL and PRS for Music.
>
> PRS for Music and PPL operate in accordance with the 1988 Copyright,
> Designs and Patents Act and collect and distribute music royalties on
> behalf of their members - and this is not within Ofcom's remit to
> enforce.
>
> The CMA continues to seek independent legal counsel with regard to
> music licensing for the sector and we will keep making the case to PPL
> and PRS for Music for fair treatment for community broadcasters.
>
> Hope that helps and best regards
>
> Bill
> --
> Community Media Association
> http://www.commedia.org.uk/
> http://twitter.com/community_media
> Facebook Fans: http://bit.ly/cog8n5
>
> Canstream Internet Radio & Video
> http://www.canstream.co.uk/
>
> On 25 February 2011 14:59, Ian Hickling <transplanfm at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Bill
>> Do you really believe that anyone should have to pay for simply copying
>> music from one format to another?
>> At all?
>> Surely - people who use music for gain should be the only ones who pay -
> and
>> they should pay as and when they use it.
>> Simply having music stored in a retrieval system should not require any
>> payment to anyone.
>> It's not actually doing anything.
>> This would make MCPS entirely redundant in a broadcasting environment.
>> Paying to record output for mandatory logging is utterly ridiculous.
>> Demanding that shop owners pay Royalties again when they are providing
> music
>> from radio for which Royalties have aready been paid once - not as a
> "Public
>> Performance" but on private premises - is fraudulent.
>> Radio stations should pay when they play, yes, but according to a
> realsitic
>> measure of how many consumers they are serving.
>> This would mean that CR stations will be paying very little.
>> Oh dear - how sad - never mind.
>> I've always said that Ofcom should deal with this - as they are all
>> apparently legal requirements to broadcast - and bill with Licence Fees
> all
>> in one go.
>> Surely not too much to ask?
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>>
>>> From: bill.best at commedia.org.uk
>>> Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:10:50 +0000
>>> To: cma-l at commedia.org.uk
>>> Subject: Re: [cma-l] does anyone know ?
>>>
>>> Hi Nick
>>>
>>> Thanks for your email.
>>>
>>> Not quite sure what you are on about here but I'm guessing it is the
>>> recent introduction of the mechanical rights licence (MCPS) at a flat
>>> fee of £182.48 (plus VAT) for the period 1st October 2010 – 30th
>>> September 2011.
>>>
>>> The situation was that up until this current licensing period, PRS for
>>> Music did not have a scheme in place to cover the mechanical rights
>>> licence. All previous licences from PRS for Music included the
>>> following wording regarding the MCPS licence:
>>>
>>> "Your details will be held on file, and contact will be made once PRS
>>> for Music is in a position to issue the licence. For budgeting please
>>> allow the same minimum fee as PRS for Music, £607 plus VAT per licence
>>> year."
>>>
>>> The CMA received news that PRS for Music was considering plans to
>>> introduce a charge for the MCPS licence at a cost of up to the same
>>> amount for the Performing Rights Licence (PRS) which is £636 for 1st
>>> October 2010 – 30th September 2011 - effectively a 100% increase in
>>> licence fees for community radio stations.
>>>
>>> The CMA vigorously argued against this 100% increase in the licence
>>> fee for community radio stations and PRS for Music conceded to charge
>>> a fee of £182.48 plus VAT for MCPS.
>>>
>>> The CMA will continue to argue for fair treatment of non-for-profit
>>> community radio stations with regard to the licensing fees. For
>>> example, only this week I attended a meeting of the Community Sector
>>> Law Monitoring Group to discuss how copyright law is applied to our
>>> sector and the CMA is still seeking further legal opinion to ensure
>>> that community radio stations are treated fairly in comparison to
>>> other voluntary and community sector organisations.
>>>
>>> Hope that helps and best regards
>>>
>>> Bill
>>> --
>>> Community Media Association
>>> http://www.commedia.org.uk/
>>> http://twitter.com/community_media
>>> Facebook Fans: http://bit.ly/cog8n5
>>>
>>> Canstream Internet Radio & Video
>>> http://www.canstream.co.uk/
>>>
>>> On 25 February 2011 11:33, Office - ccr-fm <office at ccr-fm.co.uk> wrote:
>>> > Dear All
>>> >
>>> > As it now seems to be ‘’’kicking off’’’ on yet another front ……… (PRS)
>>> > could someone (preferably from the CMA) (Jaqui / Bill ??)    enlighten
>>> > me as
>>> > to what was actually negotiated with the PRS …..
>>> > ?                            I was on the understand it was a bogged
>>> > standard rate agreed by all parties.
>>> >
>>> > On the bureaucratic front would it not be sensible and easier for all
>>> > concerned to simply be invoiced for the ‘agreed’ amount …… return the
>>> > invoice with a signature and a cheque.
>>> >
>>> > Has something been agreed or has it not been agreed
>>> > ??                    or
>>> > …………… was it negotiated with an option left in small print for the
> Ivory
>>> > Towers troop to move the goalposts, as this is how it appears to me.
>>> >
>>> > I’m just trying to establish what we are meant to be paying as a none
>>> > business, not-for-profit group ?     ( we could be very soon a charity
>>> > as
>>> > well.)          The payments for the PRS are related to music used for
>>> > our
>>> > broadcasting              I think
>>> > ?????????                                             so, I ask the
>>> > question
>>> > again …. Has anyone paid above the £700 ?        How much ?      and
> Why
>>> > ?
>>> >
>>> > As a fraturnity and brotherhood can we also stop hiding in the trench
>>> > waiting for others to fire the bullets and get a bad name for
> themselves
>>> > …………… ie:-   moi’   !            All I am attempting to do is to fight
>>> > for a
>>> > fair and simple system for everyone so that everyone is charged and
> pays
>>> > their dues according to ability to pay. In fact I could go one further
>>> > on
>>> > this topic and ask why the CMA hasn’t negotiated a special rate for
>>> > those 16
>>> > stations who are already struggling for funding regarding the adverts
> on
>>> > air
>>> > / sponsorship debacle as we appear to be getting ‘crapped on’ from all
>>> > angles …………………………. We are not allowed to earn the money but have to
> fork
>>> > out
>>> > the same as everyone else …………… one rule for one and different rules
> for
>>> > others.
>>> >
>>> > Well I ain’t certainly rolling over and dieing ……     I’ll stand up and
>>> > be
>>> > counted. Once it is all put to bed maybe I will be able to join in the
>>> > message board comminications on a positive note as opposed to negative
>>> > angst
>>> > all the time ……………….. not caused by me by the way.
>>> >
>>> > Nick