Wrong music tariffs cost licensees dear
Many pubs and clubs are paying far too much for licences to play recorded music because they have been put on the wrong tariff.
That is the claim of Craig Bridges, a former area manager at the Performing Rights Society (PRS) who now heads the Copyright Music Licence Consultancy (CMLC) that negotiates music licences.
Some licensees have seen unfair licence increases of up to 400%, Bridges claimed.
He said he has handled around two complaints a month from operators who are issued with the wrong fee levels by PRS and Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL) since CMLC was formed in January.
He said PPL has been automatically putting venues on the highest tariff of £400 for licensees who didn't notify
the group of their venue's square footage, which is now used to calculate charges. Some hosts saw PPL levels increase up to 400% as a result.
Bridges said one operator was charged more than twice the correct amount for a PRS licence because he was put on the proprietary club rather than the nightclub tariff.
The operator would have paid £11,500 but it was reduced to £5,500 after the tariff was switched.
Bridges said operators often fail to notify PRS and PPL of changes to their venue that could affect how much they pay.
This includes changing the number of rooms in which music is played and adding events such as discos.
Bridges also believes PRS and PPL staff "are not up to speed on the workings of the tariffs".
PRS performance sales manager Keith Gilbert said staff have "extensive knowledge" of tariffs, training is a "high priority" and "a large amount of resource has gone towards ensuring our team maintains the highest level of knowledge and service".
He said PRS will review a licence tariff for free - call 0800 068 4828 for details.
A PPL spokesman said: "We have very efficient, well trained teams who always try to be fair and consistent when dealing with customers. We constantly look to upgrade our processes and next year will see
the introduction of a brand
new back-end system which will help us and our users enormously."
