ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus has signed with PPL for the administration of his international neighbouring rights collections.
The Swedish singer-songwriter joins around 65,000 performers and recording rights-holders that PPL now collects for internationally.
Ulvaeus was a backer of Session – a service previously known as Auddly, which helps to ensure the correct credits are applied to music recordings – which PPL partnered with in 2018.
“It is a privilege to be able to collect the international royalties for Björn Ulvaeus," PPL's CEO Peter Leathem said. "As an artist, Björn has contributed so much to the music industry, and he continues to do so through his advocacy for better music data management and the more efficient flow of money to creators – two goals also shared by PPL.
"Our work with innovative companies such as Session benefits our members by developing an ecosystem of tools that will help them manage their repertoire more efficiently. Our neighbouring rights expertise, on top of strong CMO relationships and board-level representation on various industry bodies, allows us to stand up for our members and ensure they are paid correctly. By combining these partnerships with internal investment in people and technology, we can constantly improve how we collect and distribute money for those that we represent.”
ABBA's Ulvaeus welcomed his new deal, saying he hoped the partnership would also benefit other songwriters in the long term.
“The music industry is experiencing a period of significant change as digitisation continues to underpin increased consumption. As the use of music grows we must ensure those who invest time and talent in music are fairly paid for their work," he said.
"Session is one of a number of companies and organisations working towards this goal, and PPL is another. By making it easier to track and credit the contributions of artists in the studio we are helping get music people paid. I look forward to extending this working relationship beyond Session, and for PPL to help get songwriters and performers paid."
Read Music Week's interview with Ulvaeus on the state of the biz. Last month, PRS Foundation’s funding scheme, the Momentum Music Fund, was renamed the PPL Momentum Music Fund.
By Paul Stokes
