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PRS FAQs |
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My music group performs mainly in a church - are we still liable for performing rights? |
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Yes - unless the music "performance" is part of a church service, presided over by a religious celebrant, in which case it would be exempt. A large number of societies do perform their concerts in churches, and in almost all cases the church is treated as a concert venue like any other. |
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The venue we use has a PRS licence already. What do we need to do? |
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If the venue is licensed then you must make payment via the venue, and they will pass it on to PRS. The venue will probably ask you for a copy of your concert programme. The corresponding charge is likely to be a percentage of your ticket sale income.
N.B. You should not be charged a PRS fee if all the music you are performing is out of copyright. Members can take a look at Information Sheet 3 in the Members area for further details. |
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What if we do not charge for entry to hear the performance - do we still have to pay royalties? |
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You need to pay royalties on the performance of music in copyright regardless of whether you charge for tickets or not. In cases where you have a passing audience (eg performing in a shopping centre) you should estimate the average audience number at any one time and use this figure to calculate your royalty. |
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What are PRS Declaration Forms, where do I get them and what should I do with them? |
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The completion of PRS declaration slips helps PRS to distribute income fairly to copyright owners.
To download forms to print off and complete please click here.
You should complete a declaration slip for every concert you are declaring via the Making Music PRS scheme, attached to a programme for the concert. You can either fill these in as you go along and send them to the Making Music office at any time, or you can save them to send in with your Annual Payment form for next year's membership renewal.
PRS asks you to complete section 2 of the declaration slip, which involves a representative of the venue signing and confirming the performance. However, although this is useful information to PRS it is not essential, so if this is onerous or difficult PRS has agreed that slips can be returned without this section completed.
Attach each slip to a copy of the programme and either send it directly to PRS at any time, or keep to send in with your next Annual Payment form and accompanying royalty payment. PRS payments and declarations are always made retrospectively for the period 1 November to 31 October.
See Information Sheets 3 and 3c in the Members' Area for further information on performing rights and on the Making Music scheme with PRS. |
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Do we have to pay PRS fees and how do we do this? |
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If you are performing a copyright work, the promoter of your performance is responsible for paying a royalty fee to PRS.
If you are the promoter of your own performance, this means you are responsible for paying the PRS fee. However, if you are simply engaged to perform a copyright work, you do not need to worry.
The promoter of a concert containing copyright work should check if the performance venue has a PRS license. The payment is paid via the venue. If the venue is not licensed, the promoter should pay the fee through Making Music.
For full details including a guide to which musical works are in copyright, please click here to take a look at Information Sheet 3. For the Making Music PRS tariff 1 November 2009-31 October 2010 click here.
These are also available in the Members area.
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My question is not on the list! |
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Please look around our website or drop us an email:
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 info@makingmusic.org.uk
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Content last updated:
23 November 2009 |
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