PPL's collections down 17% to £225.7 million in 2020 but distributions up 15.2%

 

By Emmanuel Legrand

British music neighbouring rights licensing company PPL saw collections sliding down 17% in 2020 to £225.7 million, a decrease of £46.1m compared to 2019.

  PPL, which collects performance rights for the use of sound recording son behalf of performers and recording rights holders, said that despite the drop in collections, due to lockdown restrictions affecting revenue, it was PPL’s third highest annual collections.

  In 2020, PPL distributed a record £260.2m, up by 15.2% from 2019's £225.8m with more than 135,000 performers and recording rights holders receiving at least one payment, up 13% on 2019’s figure of 119,000.

The underlying strength of PPL

  Commented PPL CEO Peter Leathem: “The past year was one of the most challenging in PPL’s history with Covid-19 having a significant impact on our income. Despite these difficulties, I am proud of how the company rallied to support performers and recording rights holders, as well as the wider music industry. It is a sign of the underlying strength of PPL and its staff that our business operated as near to normal during this time, paying out over £260 million to over 135,000 performers and recording rights holders, collecting the third highest annual total ever, and contributing £1.4 million to industry hardship funds."

  Leathem added that he expected domestic revenues will begin to recover in 2021, "although we are not yet expecting a return to pre-Covid levels." He also warned that international revenues "may be impacted over a longer period of time because of the pandemic, although to what extent will vary from territory to territory."

Positive growth prospects

  "Over the longer term," he concluded, "we remain very positive about this sector’s growth prospects and the income it will create for our members."

  
  Other key figures include:

  >International collections"remained strong" at £85.9m, down 0.9% from 2019.
  PPL said in a statement that the "robustness" of its international revenue stream reflects "the important technological and operational investments made by PPL and the neighbouring rights industry over the last decade." PPL now counts 105 licensing agreements with international music licensing companies around the world.  

  > Broadcast and online income"held up well," declining by only 3.8% to £82.3m.
  PPL said that despite the challenges arising from the impact of Covid-19 , television broadcast revenue grew during the year "as a result of existing multi-year deals with broadcasters such as the BBC, Sky, and ITV." However, PPL’s commercial radio income fell across 2020 as radio station’s advertising revenues were impacted by Covid-19.

  >Income from public performance and dubbing was "the most impacted" by the pandemic, down 42.2% to £57.5m in 2020 from £99.6m  in 2019. 
  PPL said the decline was "a direct result of the pandemic" with licensees facing financial difficulties linked to the several lockdowns. PPL directly and through the PPL PRS Ltd joint venture, provided support to licensees in in the form of freezing fees for periods when premises were closed, temporarily changing payment policies to allow for deferred payments, and suspending late payment charges.