Way back in 1934, Phonographic Performance Limited was founded by Decca and EMI as a copyright collective for the UK music industry. Now, 90 years later, PPL operates at the heart of the business, still on a mission to ensure performers are fairly compensated. To kick off a special feature looking back at nine decades of evolution, CEO Peter Leathem outlines its crucial role and explains what the organisation means to him…
My first ever encounter with PPL was in 1990 when, on my first day in the litigation seat at the law firm Hamlin Slowe (now Hamlins LLP), I attended a conference about a copyright tribunal case related to the use of music on jukeboxes.
More than a decade later, when Fran Nevrkla had taken the reins as CEO, he asked if I would consider running the PPL legal team and join his leadership team. It was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down – not just because I love music, but because I could see the potential for PPL and the vision that Fran had for it.
By the time I joined in 2002, PPL already had an almost 70-year history, having been formed in 1934 following a groundbreaking court case brought by EMI – then known as The Gramophone Company. The company won a legal action against a coffee shop in Bristol for playing records to its customers without the permission of the copyright owners. PPL came into being soon after and its principal role remains the same: to ensure those who invest their time, money and talent in the process of making music and performing it get fairly paid.
When I joined, one of our first areas of focus was on the broadcast licences that both PPL, and the video company Video Performance Limited (VPL) for whom all staff also worked, had with the broadcast community. This involved significant negotiations with the likes of the BBC and ITV, as well as commercial radio, MTV Networks Europe and EMAP.
I have very fond memories of that time working long hours and eating many late-night pizzas with my colleagues Tony Clark, director of licensing, and my first ever appointment at PPL, David Harmsworth, our future general counsel, with whom I worked for 20 years until he passed away due to cancer last year.
Only a third of the countries in the world currently have performance rights for record companies and performers, so I’m excited about the potential for further growth
Peter Leathem
We wanted to deliver a much fairer return from those licensing arrangements for our members and managed to do so by voluntary negotiations and building good relationships. They were important initial steps in starting to build the reputation of PPL.
In the early years, I also had an important role in negotiating and delivering Fran Nevrkla’s vision for a single home for record companies and performers at PPL. Following five years of negotiations, PPL merged in 2006 with two organisations representing performers – PAMRA and AURA – giving PPL sole responsibility for paying performers their UK earnings, as well as offering an international collection service for performers for the first time.
By 2023, we had increased international collections for performers and rights-holders to £75.4 million, from virtually zero 20 years earlier.
Only a third of the countries in the world currently have performance rights for record companies and performers, so I’m excited about the potential for further growth in this space.
PPL’s third income stream, public performance, experienced a landmark moment in 2018 when PPL PRS Ltd launched. This brought a whole new licensing experience to music users and saw PPL and PRS For Music join forces. It took us 84 years to get there – but only five years to pay out more than £1 billion in royalties.
My time at PPL has been characterised by so many highs, not least working with such a talented team of individuals. Their collective love for music continually sees them go above and beyond for the rights-holders and performers whose music we feel privileged to represent.
Moments like our 90th anniversary give us a chance to reflect on what has been achieved over the last nine decades and, importantly, to focus on where we’re going next. And I know PPL will continue to use its voice and influence for good.
Click here for our report on PPL's latest financial results.
Subscribers can read our series of articles to mark PPL's 90th anniversary online here and in the latest edition of Music Week.
