Christopher BarrettThe Music Managers Forum (MMF) and Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) today, 4 December, sent a joint letter to PRS for Music CEO Andrea Martin urging the collecting society to reconsider its proposed tariff for live-streamed events.
It said that without consultation and in the midst of a global pandemic, PRS has determined that ticketed or sponsored livestream events should be subject to a tariff of between 8% and 17% of gross revenues. That’s compared to 4.2% charged at normal “in-person” live shows. It is understood PRS intend to levy the charge retrospectively.
If implemented, PRS would impose tariffs on a banded scale – starting at 8% on livestream events grossing up to £50,000, and rising to 17% on livestream events grossing more than £450,000 from ticket sales.
The letter is co-signed by more than 50 music managers, including representatives of Dua Lipa, Biffy Clyro, Liam Gallagher, Bicep, Fontaines D.C., Gorillaz, Yungblud, and Arlo Parks, as well as FAC member artists and songwriters including Ed O’Brien, Aluna Francis, Graeme Park, Dave Rowntree, Sandie Shaw MBE and Simone Butler.
The MMF said that during the pandemic, ticketed livestream shows have been a lifeline for many artists and their teams, providing employment for crew and helping to keep venues open.
In a statement the orgainsation said: “We believe everyone in the industry should be working together to ensure artists and songwriters benefit from livestreaming but these onerous terms will make livestream shows unworkable. It is also remains unclear if PRS is even in a position to mandate a global licence for livestream events hosted in the UK.
“For over two weeks, MMF and FAC have been engaging with PRS asking for a full and transparent consultation, but to no avail. Instead, they have started to speak publicly about this new rate. Subsequently, we are now making our position public.”
The MMF is inviting more managers and artists to add their signatures to the letter, calling for a full and transparent consultation to determine a more viable rate.
The letter can be read here, and signed here.