If you wrote the song, register it with PRS for Music. If you performed on the recording or own it, register with PPL. PRS collects royalties for songwriters and composers. PPL collects for performers and for the owners of recordings. An independent gospel artist who writes their own songs, sings on them and owns the recording can join both.
This is a summary of what PRS and PPL publish. Fees and rules can change, so check their own pages before you join.
PRS for Music: for the people who wrote the song
PRS collects royalties for its members when their songs are streamed, broadcast or performed, in the UK and around the world. Its advice is to join PRS if you perform live or your music is broadcast.
From PRS’s join page:
- Cost: writer membership is a one-off £100 for life. If you’re under 25, it’s £30.
- When to join: PRS recommends joining when you’re likely to earn more than £100 in royalties over a year, which covers the fee.
- Payments: your earnings show once they pass the minimum payment of £30 in the UK, or £60 internationally.
- What you need: a credit or debit card for the fee, and a valid passport or photocard driving licence to prove your identity.
- Start date: if you apply between 1 January and 30 June, membership starts on 1 January. If you apply between 1 July and 31 December, it starts on 1 July.
Once you’re a member, you register your songs and your live performances in your member dashboard. PRS then collects and pays the royalties those registered songs earn.
MCPS is separate
MCPS collects royalties when music is recorded and reproduced, for example on CDs or vinyl. It’s a separate membership with its own one-off £100 fee. You can choose to join it at the same time as PRS.
PPL: for the people on the recording and the people who own it
PPL deals with the recording itself, which is separate from the song. PPL says it’s free to join. It has two kinds of member.
Performers
PPL says anyone who has performed on recorded music can join as a performer. That covers vocals, instruments and other audible contributions, so your backing singers and musicians can join too. Performers can be paid when a recording registered with PPL is played in public or broadcast on TV or radio, as long as the performance qualifies under UK law.
Members use the myPPL portal to search PPL’s database for the recordings they performed on. If you aren’t listed on a track, you can claim to be added to the performer line-up, and PPL may ask for evidence. If the track isn’t on the database at all, you ask the rightsholder to add it.
Recording rightsholders
These are the people who own the rights in commercially released recorded music, or hold them under an exclusive licence. PPL says they range from major labels to self-releasing artists. If you own the master recording of your song, that includes you.
If you own the recording and performed on it, you need to register as both a performer and a rightsholder. PPL says that in most cases this is one combined registration. Online registration is for performers and rightsholders over 18. Under-18s fill in a registration form that a parent or guardian counter-signs, and PPL asks under-18s who want to register as a rightsholder to contact its Member Services team first.
Music videos and ISRCs
If you own the rights in a music video, you can register it with PPL as well. Technically that membership is with PPL’s sister company, VPL, which is under common management with PPL.
PPL is also the sole agency in the UK for ISRCs, the codes that identify recorded music and music videos. When you join as a rightsholder, PPL gives you a code you then use to assign an ISRC to each recording. You can also request an ISRC without being a member. Our post Does a music video need its own ISRC? goes into the detail.
Church services, the worship waiver and streaming
If your songs are sung or played in church services, it helps to know how worship is treated. CCLI says an exemption exists for music played during acts of worship, meaning regular worship services. The Methodist Church’s copyright guide for streamed worship explains that this is a voluntary waiver: PRS and PPL choose not to charge for music performed during in-person worship.
The waiver applies only to in-person worship. It does not extend to streaming or recording. When a church streams a service that includes your song, it needs streaming licences. Our guide to the CCLI Streaming Licence explains which ones.
Before the video shoot: write down the credits
If the music video comes out with the song, the registrations and credits need to be settled before release. Before the shoot, write down:
- who wrote the lyrics and the music, and the agreed split between the writers
- who performed on the recording, including backing vocals and musicians
- who owns the recording, and who will own the music video
- the final song title, spelt the same way everywhere.
If you worked with a producer or a featured artist, agree the splits in writing before release day. Then the details you give PRS, PPL, your distributor and YouTube all match.
When the video is ready to go out, Premiering a music video on YouTube and getting an Official Artist Channel covers release day. To plan a video for your next release, see our music video packages or contact us.
