[CMA_Radioforum] PPL and monthly returns

[Steve Perry]

I think there needs to be a bit of clarification here. It's the information regarding the recordings that need to be on a hard disk rather than the recordings themselves. PPL are assuming that stations will be using scheduling software such as Selector which would have such a database built into it which is not necessarily true.

However, I can see it from PPL's point of view, particularly as we have close links with some of the artists we play a lot as we are a specialist music station. Some of the artists would be happy just to get the publicity of being played (and the resulting increase in sales or bookings) others would want to be paid for the airtime, which is there prerogative. Because some of them would insist on being paid you end up having to log everything; I don't see an alternative. But if there is no reporting procedure then the money we give just gets divided up between the big record companies. PPL and PRS say they act in their members interests, but if there is no reporting then the members don't get the money I am afraid. However, for specialist RSL's it begs the question what point is there for PPL and PRS to ask for money at all? Is it even legal? 

BUT! Supplying, full details every month sounds very excessive but I could cope with some reporting. My experience working on satellite stations is reporting to PRS for 2 days per year. It's a pain noting down everything for those days but one day every six months isn't that bad.  If you have a some kind of "playlist" where most of the music is scheduled from then it is not that hard to set up an Access Database which would greatly simplify reporting. Any other music just has to get slotted in manually. If you don't have such a playlist then it is very labour intensive but even then there are usually five or six people doing programmes on that day. If they are each responsible for reporting on their own programmes then it is not that bad a workload. Most music in shows should be planned out before hand and so there should be some kind of list. Add the publisher details onto each song on that list and you have a PPL report. 

The logic of reporting just two days is that most stations play the same stuff so a snapshot of one day repeated across lots of stations will provide an accurate overall picture when the results are put together. However, this system is not ideal for specialist stations and the artists played on them as it's very unfair. Whoever get's played on those two days gets paid. If it's another day they don't. They won't get paid from another station as other stations don't play that genre. Some alternative form of reporting where we can provide a kind of average over a longer period would be better. Hopefully that would be less labour intensive and be a helpful compromise between the commercial minds of PRS and PPL and the non-commercial  nature of access radio.

Incidentally, you may remember that I e-mailed PRS and PPL with questions from the group some time ago about royalties. PPL never replied but I have just got a reply from PRS. Unfortunately they sent me a letter so I will have to type it in again to let you know what it said when I have time.

Steve Perry
Cross Rhythms


-----Original Message-----
From: Traynor M (HaSS) [mailto:mtraynor at glam.ac.uk]
Sent: 20 June 2002 13:24
To: 'Nicky Edmonds '
Cc: 'radioforum at commedia.org.uk'
Subject: RE: [CMA_Radioforum] PPL and monthly returns


Dear Nicky
While most of our music is scheduled and played from computer, there is
still quite a bit which is played from other formats and which is not
scheduled.  Also, the amount of information  we keep is limited.  To keep
track of full music returns information would have huge implications for us
(and other stations too I suspect).  Being very heavily dependent on
volunteers, it would be impossible for us to provide the information with
any level of accuracy.  I think it's very unreasonable to subject us to the
same regulations as well resourced commercial stations.  Do PPL  really
understand what Access Radio is?  If so, how have they got the gall to do
this?.
My view is that they shouldn't ask us for returns at all.  We'll pay up but
please leave us alone!

Mary Traynor
GTFM, Pontypridd.

-----Original Message-----
From: Nicky Edmonds
To: radioforum at commedia.org.uk
Sent: 20/06/02 12:07
Subject: [CMA_Radioforum] PPL and monthly returns

Hello everyone,

PPL have written to Steve Buckley at CMA, outlining their plan for music
returns and access radio.

They are asking Access Radio stations to supply full music usage returns
on
a monthly basis, (which RSLs don't have to do). They say that if access
radio stations hold the information relating to the sound recordings
that
they play on a hard disk, this will be a simple process.

It would be good to know what you think of this. Do you run a completely
computerised system so that all your sound recordings played are
recorded,
or will you have to use a manual recording method?

What do you think would be a fair way of PPL monitoring the recorded
music
that you play?

best wishes
Nicky Edmonds
Community Media Association







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