PPL
PPL celebrates its 75th birthday this year and is the London-based music licensing company. PPL licenses recorded music on behalf of 3,400 record companies and approximately 38,000 performers in the UK. In addition, the company has 42 bilateral agreements with similar organisations around the world. PPL collects domestic and international broadcast/new media revenues from UK television stations, internet radio stations and terrestrial commercial radio stations, as well as public performance income from venues ranging from clubs, shops, pubs, restaurants as well as other music users who play recorded music in public. A PPL licence enables licensees to play millions of songs.
All these revenues are then distributed and paid to all its record company and performer members. These include featured artists as well as all session musicians, ranging from orchestral players to percussionists and singers. PPL is a not-for-profit company acting, as it does, for and on behalf of its members and constituents. All income therefore, after running costs, is distributed amongst its members whose tracks have been either broadcast or played in public.
Standing up for music rights, PPLs other areas of operations include VPL, PPL Repertoire Database (formerly Catco) and PPL Video Store (formerly Music Mall).