After a storm of criticism of its plans for a new small-scale livestreams licence, British collecting society PRS for Music has executed a u-turn.
In a move that it said was spurred by “listening to feedback from songwriter and composer members”, PRS will now let those members get a free licence for livestreams if they’re only performing their own works. This is still for small-scale events with revenues below £500.
“PRS for Music will be accelerating its ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders on an interim rate, while the physical live sector is closed, for online concerts in the coming weeks. We are committed to agreeing a discounted rate for larger concerts as soon as possible to make these licences available to the market,” added the society in its announcement.
The Music Venue Trust said “we warmly welcome this logical revision” while pressing PRS to “enter into serious discussions in good faith, prepared to listen and prepared to consider evidence that can result in positive, forward facing solutions for all stakeholders”. A joint statement from the bosses of the MMF and FAC also welcomed the change.
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