After 28 years at PRS For Music and 12 years leading the membership and international department, executive director Karen Buse is stepping down from the collecting society.
Buse, who was recently inducted into the Music Week Women In Music Awards Roll Of Honour in recognition of her work on behalf of PRS members, will depart the organisation at the end of the year.
PRS for Music’s commercial director, Paul Clements, will be taking on the new position of executive director for membership, international and licensing following Buse’s departure. Clements has spent almost as long as Buse at PRS with 21 years’ experience across both the licensing and membership sides of the business. In the new role, he will be working to continue the development and improvement in services to licensees and members, both in the UK and internationally.
Buse joined PRS as a temp on a six-week contract and worked her way up to become one of the most senior women in the music industry, leading a team of more than 120 people.
In the 12 years that she has led the department, Buse has seen international revenues triple. In 2016, international was PRS for Music’s biggest revenue source, collecting £233.7m.
In aiming to improve diversity in the biz, Buse has also overseen the proportion of women joining PRS as members grow to one third. She recently worked on new digital initiatives for PRS for Music members, including the live performance reporting tool.
Buse said: “I’ve been lucky enough to combine all of the things I love into one role – international relations, commercial focus and a love of music. I am so proud of what my teams have achieved in the time I have been with them, and I know they will continue to do our members proud in the years to come under Paul’s leadership. I would also like to thank our members for all of their support over the years. It has been an honour to serve you all.”
Clements added: “I would like to extend my warmest thanks to Karen and congratulate her on her incredible contribution to PRS for Music in all of the years that she has served the business. I am both delighted and honoured to be taking on this new role and look forward to the challenge of building upon Karen’s sterling work.”
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