Image Credit: PPL

How much does PPL pay artists and labels? Well, the music licensing company says 2022 was the second highest payout to date.

In 2022, PPL paid out £244.9m to 165,000 recording rightsholders and performers. The music licensing organisation is celebrating a payout growth of 7.1% since 2021, which is just behind the highest ever total of £260.2 million reached in 2020.

UK music licensing has clearly bounced back from the losses of the pandemic, as that 2020 figure comes from pre-lockdown 2019 numbers. The rise in payouts is seemingly linked both to PPL gaining more members and innovative investments the neighbouring rights industry has made in the past year.

PPL says it works with a lot of partner organisations elsewhere in the neighbouring rights industry, to ensure that the right people are paid for their recordings when they’re played.

CEO of PPL Peter Leathem said: “Over the last decade PPL has become one of the world’s most successful neighbouring rights companies. Not only do we collect hundreds of millions of pounds from the UK and around the world, but each year we distribute this money to more and more performers and recording rights-holders than before.”

“It is also positive to be able to pay out more money to performers and recording rights-holders than we did in 2021. Neighbouring rights was naturally impacted by COVID-19 but the sector continues to recover well, with more growth expected in 2023.”


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