PRS for Music boss Steve Porter leaving this week
PRS for Music has announced that its chief executive Steve Porter is standing down this Friday. Although the wording of the announcement makes it sound like he’s been stood down: “The Boards feel that as the business faces new challenges, a new set of skills is required to take PRS for Music forward”.
The body is kicking off a search for a new chief executive, with MCPS managing director Jeremy Fabinyi stepping in as interim/acting chief executive in the meantime. PRS says it will be canvassing both internal and external candidates for the new role.
Porter has worked at PRS for Music for ten years, starting as director of finance in 1999, before becoming executive director of finance, then managing director, and then chief executive in April 2007. It remains to be seen whether Porter’s departure speeds up or holds up ongoing negotiations – for example with YouTube – over music licensing.
Tags: prs for music
July 13th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Steve Porter is a first rate manager!
July 14th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Steve was arrogant and egotistical. Under him the PRS has become more estranged from it’s members. He oversaw a a period of erosion of our income and contributed significantly to that erosion.
July 14th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Steve Porter supervised at least three catastrophes: a wait-and-see policy regarding new media (has a single P2P been taken to court? Pirate Bay was tackled by film companies and publishers while PRS was investigating pub jukeboxes). We need, perhaps, to organise PRS members to chant “No more new media reports. Take them to court” outside their office.
Secondly, disastrous rates for online (sometimes micropayments so low they can’t be transferred by a bank), and, thirdly, the obsession with joint ventures and selling off the impressive parts of PRS (data processing) to for-profit third parties.
Steve tried to mould a respected not-for-profit society into bullish multi-rights licensing body, and a friendly liaison department into service centre automatons. Why?
We can only pray that his replacement has less greed, and the ambition to grow, not flog off, the society.
July 15th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
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July 20th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
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