PRS for Music sues Live Nation in UK High Court
PRS for Music is suing Live Nation, accusing the promoter of failing to correctly report the full price that fans have paid for VIP tickets and other ticket packages.
The High Court action has been filed by the UK collective management organisation (CMO) and public performance licensing joint venture PPL PRS Limited, against Live Nation (Music) UK Limited, Festival Republic, DF Concerts, Isle Of Wight Festival and Parklife.
PRS says that its songwriter and customer members could be missing out on royalties due to LN’s “disregard” of its core requirements.
“PRS for Music is committed to ensuring songwriters and composers are paid fairly whenever their works are performed,” says a spokesperson for the body.
“Live music venues and promoters are required to pay music creators, based on a percentage of the price paid by the consumer, and to adhere to the reporting standards set out in PRS’s applicable tariff. This includes full and accurate reporting of all ticket types, including VIP tickets and other ticket bundles and packages. The vast majority of promoters and venues comply with the terms of their licence.”
It continues: “We have commenced legal action to address Live Nation’s continual failure to correctly report the full price consumers have paid for VIP tickets and other ticket packages. Disregard of these core requirements by a company of Live Nation’s size is entirely unacceptable and means songwriters and composers are not paid all the royalties they are due.
“PRS for Music stands firm in its mission to protect its members’ rights and create a level playing field for all event promoters and venues that honour their licensing obligations. We urge the whole live music sector to embrace the need for greater transparency, ensuring that music creators and the live industry can thrive together. ”
Live Nation declined to comment.
“This false narrative has clearly been constructed with the purpose of creating division within the industry”
News of the lawsuit comes two weeks after a separate legal dispute involving PRS intensified.
A group of UK songwriters and composers, including King Crimson’s Robert Fripp and Jim and William Reid from The Jesus And Mary Chain, initiated court action against the organisation in June. They are bidding to “overhaul the implementation of procedures and policies” they claim are “prejudicial to their interests and to the interests of PRS members more broadly”, and have been joined in the action by direct licensing specialist PACE Rights Management.
In its latest statement, the plaintiffs again hit out at PRS’ Major Live Concerts Service (MLCS), alleging it offers “preferential conditions to writer-performers who headline live shows in 5,000+ capacity”.
Referring to a PRS defence document filed in September, the group claims the CMO attempted to justify the scheme by inferring that smaller shows were administered less efficiently, and should not benefit from preferential rates
PRS dismissed the statements as “false” and deliberately divisive”, adding: “This false narrative has clearly been constructed with the purpose of creating division within the industry which ought to be working together for the benefit of music creators.”
In a further allegation, the claimants say they have learned that “PRS has decided to appropriate significant sums of live black box income into MLCS distributions”.
A PRS for Music spokesperson set out its process in response.
“Each year we openly publish the live events we do not hold a setlist for and ask members to check for unclaimed live performance royalties,” a spokesperson tells IQ. “Following this, if there are still residual live royalties, this is reconciled by being paid proportionately across known live performances in the relevant period. This is in accordance with the Distribution Policy, as agreed by the representatives of the elected Members’ Council.”
Earlier this year, PRS announced it had become a billion-pound collection society after collecting £1.08 billion in revenues for 2023. The organisation paid out a record £943.6 million of royalties for songwriters, composers and music publishers last year, with total royalty distributions increasing by £107.4m (12.8%) on 2022.
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