What you need to know before renewing

The rising cost of living continues to have a significant impact on Making Music and the leisure-time groups it supports. If you plan to renew this year and feel able to, we would be grateful if you would please consider making a donation to ensure we can continue to work on your behalf and for thousands of similar groups throughout the UK. There are two ways that you can do this.

• Donate as your group, as part of the renewal process.
• Donate as an individual via our CAF donations page.

Whatever you give, however small, will help us ensure we can continue and grow our services. If you are unable to donate, we completely understand, and look forward to supporting you in 2025. Thank you!

Whether you renew online, by email or by post there are three payment options. 

In order for your renewal to be processed as quickly as possible, we ask that you please renew your membership using the online form and make payment via BACS or card. We are charged 60p for each cheque we bank and there is no charge for BACS, so paying by BACS means we can save more money to reinvest in membership services. However we do realise paying by BACS and completing online forms is not an option for everyone, we will therefore accept email or postal renewal forms and cheque payments, however, there may be a delay processing your renewal. 

1. BACS: Transfer the payment to – Account number: 00060724 Sort code: 40 52 40. Please use your group’s name as the payment reference.
2. Card: If you renew online you can pay by card at the end of the process. If you use the paper form, you can call us and make a card payment over the phone. Call us on 0207 939 6030,10am-5pm on  Mon, Wed, Fri; 10am - 2pm on Tues and Thurs.
3. Cheque: Send one cheque for the full amount, made payable to 'Making Music', to Making Music, 4 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU. Please make sure your group's name is clearly visible on the back of the cheque

If you do owe PRS through Making Music for events carried out between 1 November 2023 - 31 October 2024, remember to send us your programme details so that PRS can correctly distribute the money to copyright holders. You can do this:

• online: by submitting them using our Programme online submission form; 
• by email: send a copy of the programme to info@makingmusic.org.uk. Just write the audience size (for free events)/total ticket income and average ticket price (for ticketed events) on the programme and make sure that the group's name, date of performance, venue and the pieces performed (including composer/arranger name) are clearly visible.
• post (if you can't use the online form or submit by email): just write the audience size (for free events)/gross ticket income, average ticket price and audience size (for ticketed events) on the programme and make sure that the group's name, date of performance, venue and the pieces performed (including composer/arranger name) are clearly visible. Programmes can then be sent to Making Music, 4 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU.

We have created a handy PRS guide (PDF) on how to pay PRS and to make sure you have done everything.

As part of your renewal you must either:

• declare you don’t owe any PRS fees via Making Music (If your venue already holds a PRS licence and has charged you for PRS, there’s no need to pay us as well but you do need to declare that you have no PRS fees to pay through Making Music)
• Declare that you will pay PRS fees due for performances that took place between 1 November 2023 and 31 October 2024 through Making Music.

If you pay PRS fees before 11 December you will receive a 5% discount on PRS fees. This applies to PRS only and not to membership or insurance.

There has been changes to the Making Music PRS collection scheme this year, more information about this and how to pay PRS fees through Making Music is outlined below. We have also created a handy PRS Guide to help you PRS Guidance (PDF). Before paying fees make sure you have read the information outlined below. You can then pay PRS fees or declare you have no fees to pay through the PRS Self-Assessment tool.

Changes to paying PRS through Making Music this year 
In September 2023, PRS introduced new rates for leisure-time music groups, which vary based on whether the event was ticketed or not. See the new rates below:

Non-ticketed and free events
For free events leisure time music groups get a 50% discount off their PRS fees. The fees due are based on the audience size of the event.

Ticketed events
Under the new tariff, PRS fees for ticketed events are based on a percentage of gross ticket income for each event. 

• Amateur groups (as defined by PRS) will pay 3.25% of gross ticket income plus VAT
• Groups that do not qualify as amateur will pay 6.5% of gross ticket income plus VAT
• There is a minimum fee of £32.49 per performance plus VAT.

*PRS definition of amateur: 'Amateurs means an individual or group operated by volunteers, whose performers are primarily unpaid. If a group earns ticket revenue, they may still be considered Amateur if the majority of revenue goes towards the running of the group (e.g. transportation costs, venue hire, score rental etc). Groups are still considered Amateur if they engage a small minority of professionals to assist with the group performances (e.g. hiring a conductor, substitute players in the event of illness) If an event is organised by a third-party promoter, it cannot be classified as Amateur.'

The full prices can be found on our website.

How to pay PRS fees?

We have created a handy PDF document to provide you with the full guidance on paying PRS fees through Making Music. Some general information can also be found below.

When renewing the group's membership and insurance (if applicable), you will be asked to either declare you have no PRS fees to pay through Making Music, or declare that you do have PRS fees to pay through Making Music and will pay for these separately. If fees are owed then you can pay PRS separately to your renewal by using the PRS self-assessment tool.

If you do have PRS fees to pay through Making Music then you will also need to send us your programme information for these performances. More information can be found in our PRS Programme Details section below.

If you’re not sure what PRS fees are or whether you owe any, have a look at our guidance to find out more. Watch our introductory videos and read the full guidance or use our PRS self-assessment tool.

Changes to insurance packages for 2025

• The single item limit for the ‘All Risks’ property cover was £5K. Making Music and the insurance brokers Finch have successfully negotiated with Covea to increase this limit to £10K for 2025 onwards. Please note that this only applies to the Silver and Gold packages which include ‘All Risks’ property cover.
• At the beginning of 2024, the age limit in the cover for Money and Assault section was increased from an upper age limit of 70 to an upper age limit of 80. This change is now reflected in the policy documents for 2025. This age limit applies to the Money and Assault section of the packages only.

Insurance Notice

You need to know which level of insurance cover you require and you must check this policy continues to meet your requirements. You must:

• View your current level via your Dashboard and check this policy continues to meet your requirements by reviewing the full policy documentation and your demands and needs statement before you decide to purchase.
• View details of the different insurance packages available and choose the cover which best suits your needs  

View the, Terms of Business Document , Policy Summary and Full policy wording. You should review the policy documents carefully to ensure they accurately reflect the cover, conditions, limits, and other terms that you require. Particular attention should be paid to policy conditions and warranties as failure to comply with these could invalidate your policy.

Please note: if your total income (not profit/surplus) for your last set of completed accounts is over £100,000 you must have custom cover.

Custom insurance: if you have custom insurance cover for 2024, Finch will contact you soon regarding your cover for 2025 and you need this quote before renewing your membership and insurance for 2025. When you renew online or via post you will have to supply the custom quote amount.

If you have not previously had a custom insurance policy but require one for 2025, contact Finch directly before you renew to get a quote on 0118 334 8868 (Monday-Friday 9am-5pm).

Employer Reference Number (ERN) (if applicable): if you have insurance with us and your group has employees who earn more than £192 a week or £833 per month you need to supply your ERN when you renew. It does not include freelancers, such as most music directors and accompanists. You can find out more about ERNs here.

Your membership fee depends on your group’s income. This should be your total income (not profit/surplus) in your most recent set of completed accounts. Your group's total income may include payments for; membership subscriptions, donations, grants, legacies, friends' schemes, engagement fees and event tickets (not an exhaustive list). The membership fees for 2025 are outlined below.

Some discounts on membership fees are available. For online renewals just enter the relevant code from the table below into the discount box on the online form and click 'Apply'.