UK songwriters, composers and music publishers are set to keep more of their royalties.

PRS for Music has announced reductions to several of the administration rates it deducts before distributing royalties to members.

The changes will take effect from January 1, 2027 and are expected to result in an additional £30 million being paid to songwriters, composers and publishers over the following three years.

Here’s what is changing.

What PRS for Music fees are changing?

From January 1, 2027, PRS will reduce administration rates across three areas.

Public Performance, including Live:

23% → 20%

Cinema:

19% → 16%

Broadcast:

14.9% → 14.4%

These percentages relate to PRS administration deductions rather than the underlying amount a songwriter is necessarily entitled to receive from every use of their music.

In simple terms, PRS will retain a smaller proportion for administering these royalties, leaving more available to distribute to members.

PRS says strong revenue performance and cost management have allowed it to make the reductions.

How much more will songwriters receive?

PRS estimates the changes will result in an additional £30 million being paid to writers, composers and publishers over the next three years.

How much any individual songwriter receives will depend on where their music is being used.

For example, a songwriter generating significant live performance income could benefit more directly from the reduction in the Public Performance administration rate.

Someone whose music receives substantial television or radio exposure may benefit more from the reduced Broadcast rate.

Why does PRS charge administration fees?

Collecting music publishing royalties is complicated.

PRS licenses music, tracks usage, processes huge quantities of data, matches performances with compositions and distributes the resulting royalties to songwriters and publishers.

It also works with collecting societies around the world.

Those operations cost money.

Administration deductions help cover the cost of collecting and distributing royalties.

The question for members is therefore not necessarily whether administration should cost anything, but how efficiently those royalties can be collected.

The rates had previously been increased

PRS says some of the administration rates being reduced were temporarily increased in 2019 following distribution errors.

The organisation now says its improved financial performance and cost management allow it to reduce them again.

PRS also says it expects to make further administration-rate reductions during 2027.

That could mean additional improvements for members beyond those already announced.

PRS is also changing its Major Live Concert Service fee

Another change arrives earlier.

From October 15, 2026, the administration fee for UK and overseas Major Live Concert Service – or MLCS – collections will move to a flat £500 per event.

This replaces the previous structure of £125 per setlist in the UK and £125 per event overseas.

MLCS is designed for eligible major concerts at venues with a capacity above 5,000 where at least 60% of the music performed has been written by the headline performer.

It therefore affects a relatively specific part of PRS’s membership.

What royalties does PRS collect?

PRS primarily represents performing rights for songwriters, composers and publishers.

Performance royalties can be generated when compositions are:

• Played on radio
• Broadcast on television
• Performed live
• Played in businesses and public locations
• Used through certain online services

These are different from master recording royalties.

If you release a track through a music distributor, the distributor generally collects revenue associated with the master recording.

Songwriters can also generate publishing royalties connected to the underlying composition.

That means one recording can potentially generate several different types of music royalties.

Independent artists shouldn’t ignore publishing royalties

Many independent musicians concentrate almost entirely on streaming revenue.

But if you write your own songs, you may have multiple revenue streams attached to the same music.

A Spotify stream, for example, can involve both recording rights and publishing rights.

Live performances can generate additional publishing royalties.

Radio and television exposure can generate further royalties.

The important thing is making sure the correct rights are registered and that the organisations responsible for collecting those royalties have accurate information.

Otherwise money can potentially go unmatched.

More money reaching creators is good news

Administration rates rarely generate the same attention as streaming royalty rates.

But small percentage changes become significant when applied across hundreds of millions of pounds in music royalties.

PRS believes its latest changes will put around £30 million more into the hands of songwriters, composers and publishers over just three years.

For creators, the principle is simple.

The more efficiently royalties can be collected and administered, the more of the money generated by music can ultimately reach the people who created it.