[cma-l] Joint PRS/PPL licences

Sat Jul 2 19:29:53 BST 2016

I REALLY like that idea of reciprocal bureaucracy Ian - it would be
interesting to have a legal opinion on it.  If it's governed by plain
contract law then it's potentially a way forward.

It's always struck me that the music royalties industry has an inordinate
amount of protection and Government support - almost akin to NRA in the
US.  I wonder how they achieved that?   I bet many a dentist, plumber,
broadcast engineer etc would love to have the sort of enforcement powers
that royalty bodies have to recover their fees!

Glyn

-- 
Glyn Roylance - Principal Consultant
Associated Broadcast Consultants <http://www.a-bc.co.uk/>

On 2 July 2016 at 14:52, Ian Hickling <transplanfm at hotmail.com> wrote:

> As ever - thanks Bill for taking the trouble to spell out the situation.
> I would however - at the risk of invoking terminal boredom on the part of
> some of our friends - query just one word - "licence!".
> These are not licences.
> A licence is permission issued by a Statutory Authority to authorise the
> Licensee to perform a specific function.
> Ofcom is precisely that, H M Government's appointed Broadcast Regulator -
> and in the case of an RSL issues the BA (Broadcasting Act) Licence at £30
> per day and the WTA (Wireless Telegraphy Act) Licence  at £40 per day.
> Note - these are Licences and do not attract VAT.
> Important point - see below.
> PPL and PRSfM are not Statutory Authorities - they are commercial
> organisations.
> They do not issue Licenses - they request Royalty Payments - effectively
> random sums of their own choosing - which do attract VAT - and become
> effective once the royalty-earning performance has been achieved - not
> before.
> Do you see the distinct difference?
>
> Fortunately, we're not a broadcaster so I don't have to fight this - but I
> feel that so many of you just pay up because of a vague threat - not
> because you can out your finger on a firm legal principle.
> If I were in this position, I would write to these two organisations with
> a list of the (say) 120 tracks I'd played on my RSL and ask them as they
> are claiming the money on behalf of their Members, how much they were going
> to pay - on my behalf - the singers, songwriters, musicians, composers and
> record companies in each instance.
> That's fair - surely?
> I've done my list - which you asked for - you add your part to it.
>
> Ian Hickling
>
> Partner
>
> <http://www.transplanuk.com/>
>
> *Office: 016 3557 8435  (07h to 22h GTS)*
>
> *Car: 075 3098 0115 (only responds when driving)*
>
> *6 Horn Street, Compton, NEWBURY, RG20 6QS*
>
>
> ------------------------------
> From: bill.best at commedia.org.uk
> Date: Sat, 2 Jul 2016 13:01:52 +0100
> To: cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk
> Subject: Re: [cma-l] Joint PRS/PPL licences
>
> Thank you for your message, Colin.
>
> Regarding music licence fees for a 28-day RSL, here's a summary.
>
> *a) PRS For Music short-term radio licence*
> PRS collect licence fees for the public performance and broadcast of music
> works on behalf of the UK music publisher.
>
>
> http://www.prsformusic.com/users/broadcastandonline/Radio/STRL/Pages/shorttermrestricted.aspx
>
> The licence fees are £40 for each day of broadcast plus £70 administration
> fee exclusive of VAT. For example a four day broadcast would cost £230 plus
> VAT. Payment must be in advance by enclosing a cheque with the application
> form. Therefore for a 28-day RSL the cost is £1428.00 in total.
>
> The licence issued by PRS for Music includes the rights to:
>
>    - Broadcast and simulcast PRS for Music repertoire on radio services
>    transmitted from the UK.
>    - Copy MCPS commercial music repertoire into programme material and
>    trailers.
>    - Copy MCPS production music repertoire into programme and
>    non-programme content such as trailers.
>    - Copy MCPS repertoire onto databases and servers for the purposes of
>    providing the broadcast service.
>
> This licence does not cover the use of music in adverts, commercials,
> promos, sponsorship messages or any programmes not produced by the station.
> The full Terms and Conditions are contained in their application pack
> available online.
>
> *b) PPL Short Term Restricted Service Licence:*
> The Short Term Restricted Service Licence covers Ofcom-licensed radio
> broadcasts for a maximum of 28 days. Any individual or organisation hoping
> to obtain a Short Term Restricted Service Licence must first obtain
> approval for their transmission from the UK communications regulator, Ofcom.
>
> If a Short Term Restricted Service broadcaster intends to simulcast these
> transmissions online they do NOT need to apply for a separate or additional
> licence, they simply need to fill out the relevant details on the Short
> Term RSL application form. Terms and conditions:
>
>
> http://www.ppluk.com/en/I-Play-Music/Radio-Broadcasting/Radio-types/Short-term-licence/
>
>    - For radio broadcasting only the PPL licence fee is £35/day + VAT =
>    £1176-00
>    - To simulcast the RSL online there is a fee of £50 + VAT = £60-00
>
> These combined fees for a 28-day RSL are indeed steep (compared to the
> annual licences) and, though beyond the scope of the Joint Licence
> consultation which will relate to full-time community radio stations, the
> CMA will question the basis on which these sums have been arrived and will
> make the case to PPL and PRSfM that they do indeed need to be reviewed.
>
> Best regards
>
> Bill Best
> --
> Operations Manager
> Community Media Association
> http://www.commedia.org.uk
> https://twitter.com/community_media
> https://facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation
>
> Canstream Internet Radio
> http://www.canstream.co.uk
> https://twitter.com/canstream
>
> *Book your tickets now for the Community Media Conference
> 2016: http://bit.ly/2016CMAConf <http://bit.ly/2016CMAConf>*
>
> On 2 July 2016 at 00:28, Colin Pearse <colin at susyradio.com> wrote:
>
> Hi............................I would add this comment but slightly on a
> different tack in regard to the proposed new joint PPL / PRS licence
> proposals.  LET US NOT FORGET the highly unfair tariffs that made
> undertaking RSL's so stupidly expensive. Problem is that once you have
> gained your full time licence its easy to forget the cross most of us have
> had to suffer in paying what were very inflated rates for short term low
> power temporary broadcast licenses. I always felt that this was almost a
> case for investigation by the Office of Fair Trading.  Prior to our full
> licence we did 18 RSL's and were involved with perhaps as many again for
> other groups. That amounts to a huge pile of cash for the music licenses
> involved which I and many colleagues have deemed as very unfair. Perhaps we
> can now have a simple, cheap ticket in the form of a licence for broadcast
> music of perhaps just a few hundred pounds in order to encourage would be
> legal experimental broadcasters not as in the current regime of perhaps two
> and a half thousand pounds.  Three points................Due to the high
> RSL licence costs why can't it be deemed that all these very expensive
> licenses were in fact mis sold. PPI all over again!! Secondly, I know of no
> cases where the illegal broadcasters have been taken to court for non
> payment of fees. That has always seemed most strange to me seeing as the
> 'music police' have always been so pro active over the charging of licence
> fees. Lastly, as the number of radio stations grows to the point where the
> total exceed the number of possible listeners as the number of broadcasters
> rises then shouldn't the fees get cheaper. This does fall down on the point
> that perhaps 'our dear listeners' are enjoying a number of radio stations
> simultaneously!
>
> Some points for discussion I think.
> Colin Pearse / SUSY Radio / Reigate & Crawley[image: Smiling face with
> smiling eyes]
>
> On 1 July 2016 at 23:33, Eddie Stuart <eddie at kcr.fm> wrote:
>
>  Hi Ian,
>
> Yup - Agreed NBR etc for PPL/PRS calculations - but I was pointing out to
> Nick that a flat £2K would be more than we currently pay and for us would
> be a sizeable %age increase.... even against our total income
>
> The downside of having been a Community Part-Time Opt-Out from the local
> lLR station is that most of our licence fees etc were covered - now we are
> on our own, it's great, but reality comes crashing in - so the £12K will be
> & is increasing!
>
> However, we've upped our total income in 18 months from £9K pa to £12K pa
> - so we could well do without what to us would be another hit if PPL/PRS
> has an unbudgeted jump to £2K in 6 months time.....
>
> Eddie
>
> KCR broadcasts across Moray and beyond on 107.7FM
> and to the world on the internet at http://kcr.fm
>
> KCR is the operating name of Keith Community Radio Ltd.
> Registered in Scotland: No SC 173805
> Registered Office: 59a Land Street, Keith, Banffshire, AB55 5AN
>
>
>
> On 01/07/16 22:15, Ian Hickling wrote:
>
> It's not "Turnover" Eddie - it's "Net Revenue" - what you have left after
> you've paid all the operating costs.
> Not a lot?
>
> Ian Hickling
>
> Partner
>
> <http://www.transplanuk.com/>
>
> *Office: 016 3557 8435  (07h to 22h GTS)*
>
> *Car: 075 3098 0115 (only responds when driving)*
>
> *6 Horn Street, Compton, NEWBURY, RG20 6QS*
>
>
> ------------------------------
> To: cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk
> From: eddie at kcr.fm
> Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2016 19:15:02 +0100
> Subject: Re: [cma-l] Joint PRS/PPL licences
>
> Hmm - Our normal turnover - in total - is only about £12K........ :-)
>
> Eddie
>
> KCR broadcasts across Moray and beyond on 107.7FM
> and to the world on the internet at http://kcr.fm
>
> KCR is the operating name of Keith Community Radio Ltd.
> Registered in Scotland: No SC 173805
> Registered Office: 59a Land Street, Keith, Banffshire, AB55 5AN
>
>
> On 30/06/16 14:59, Canalside's The Thread wrote:
>
> I have suggested £2000 pounds for the lot ! as a top figure. When I say
> the lot, this includes both FM and Internet and ALL on one licence,
> including D.A.B.     if we get it
>
>
>
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-- 
Glyn Roylance - Principal Consultant
Associated Broadcast Consultants <http://www.a-bc.co.uk/>
<http://www.a-bc.co.uk/index.html>
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