PRS Self-assessment tool | Making Music

PRS Self-assessment tool

As part of your membership with Making Music, depending on whether you have a licence and where you performed, you might be able to pay PRS fees through us. 

We collect PRS fees when membership renewals start in November. From this coming November we will collect PRS fees for performances that took place between 1 November 2024 and 31 October 2025. 

If you don't know what PRS fees are then we have detailed guidance that explains more. To help you get started we have provided a quick overview below and a tool to help you understand if you need to pay PRS fees and who to pay them to. 

PRS introduction

What are PRS fees?

Royalty fees due to copyright owners of music when their music is performed live in public.

Who collects the money?

Ultimately a company called PPL-PRS do – but they do it by having various licencees that collect the money from groups on their behalf. Most music venues are licencees, and so is Making Music, so we collect money from our members and pass it onto PPL-PRS.

So do I have to pay them?

It depends – but If you put on a live public performance of music in copyright then PRS fees will be due. Exactly who pays them varies, but generally whoever is organising the event is responsible for PRS fees.

What if the performance was free?

It doesn’t matter, fees are still due.

How much are they?

It depends - some licences are a blanket annual fee that covers all performances, most venues charge a % of box office takings. For free events we charge based on audience size, for ticketed events we charge based on a percentage of gross ticket sales.  

How do I pay?

Again, it depends. Our licence with PRS covers any situation where another licence is not already in place. Use our self-assessment tool below to work out if you owe fees and how to pay them.

 

PRS self-assessment tool

Did / will you organise any of your own performances between 1 November 2024 and 31 October 2025? 

Do not include competitions or performances where you were invited to perform

You don't need to pay PRS fees. The event organiser is responsible for paying any PRS fees.  
 

Was any of the music performed in copyright? 

PRS fees are charged on a per event, not per piece basis. So if just one piece of music performed at an event was in copyright and all others aren't, PRS fees will be due.  

Copyright lasts for 70 years after the death of the composer or arranger. See our PRS FAQs for more information.

You don't need to pay PRS fees. PRS fees are only due on music in copyright.

As part of our licence with PPL - PRS we ask members to declare when they don't owe any fees using our online form, it will only take a few moments.  

Declare no PRS fees due 

 

PRS fees will be due for these performances.

The next section of the form will help you decide how to pay any fees due.

 

Does your group have its own licence with PPL-PRS?   

 

Were your performances in venues that have a licence with PPL-PRS?

If you're not sure you can search the PRS database of licensed venues.

You should pay your PRS fees through the venue's licence. You should only pay through your own licence if the venue does not have one

Please note: 

  • The venue will most likely have charged you for PRS as part of the hire (normally based on a percentage of box office). If they did not charge you there is no need for you to take action, they are the licence holder and it is their responsibility.  
  • If you performed in a Church or a School with a licence you might still have to pay through us - see notes below.

Churches 

  • A large church that holds lots of concerts will normally have their own venue licence with PRS and it will cover your performance as above. 
  • However, smaller churches that don’t hold many performances may have a CCLI agreement:
    • This means royalties for 6 performances in a calendar year are covered. Check with the church if yours is one of these; if it is you don’t have to worry.
    • If your performance is not covered by the CCLI agreement (i.e their 7th + concert) you have to pay PRS fees, which you can do through Making Music. 
    • Which 6 performances are covered is up to the church, it is not necessarily the first 6 in a year. 

Schools 

Most schools have a PRS licence, but it only covers the school activities where the entirety of any profits goes back into the school – PRS fees will be covered by the school’s licence. So, if you are hiring a school venue as a 3rd party you will not be covered by their licence and so need to pay PRS fees yourselves, via Making Music.

Your own licence should cover any PRS fees that are due and there is no need to pay anything through Making Music. 

PPL-PRS have recently issued a new type of licence called 'The Music Licence', which covers live music and playing recorded music.

If you had a licence with PRS in the past they will probably have transferred you to 'The Music Licence', which could be more expensive. You might want to consider contacting PPL-PRS and ask about cancelling the licence, and paying PRS fees in a different way.  You can also contact us if you have any questions. 

     

For performances in venues with a PRS licence your PRS fees will have been covered by the venue's licence. You should only pay through your own licence if the venue does not have one.

Please note: 

  • The venue will most likely have charged you for PRS as part of the hire (normally based on a percentage of box office). If they did not charge you there is no need for you to take action, they are the licence holder and it is their responsibility.  
  • If you performed in a Church or a School with a licence you might still have to pay through us - see notes below.

For performances in unlicensed venues Your own licence should cover any PRS fees that are due and there is no need to pay anything through Making Music. 

Churches 

  • A large church that holds lots of concerts will normally have their own venue licence with PRS and it will cover your performance as above. 
  • However, smaller churches that don’t hold many performances may have a CCLI agreement:
    • This means royalties for 6 performances in a calendar year are covered. Check with the church if yours is one of these; if it is you don’t have to worry.
    • If your performance is not covered by the CCLI agreement (i.e their 7th + concert) you have to pay PRS fees, which you can do through Making Music. 
    • Which 6 performances are covered is up to the church, it is not necessarily the first 6 in a year. 

Schools 

Most schools have a PRS licence, but it only covers the school activities where the entirety of any profits goes back into the school – PRS fees will be covered by the school’s licence. So, if you are hiring a school venue as a 3rd party you will not be covered by their licence and so need to pay PRS fees yourselves, via Making Music.

 

 

 

 

Were your performances in venues that have a licence with PPL-PRS?

If you're not sure you can search the PRS database of licensed venues.

For performances in venues with a PRS licence your PRS fees will have been covered by the venue's licence and there is no need for you to pay anything to Making Music.  

Please note: 

  • The venue will most likely have charged you for PRS as part of the hire (normally based on a percentage of box office). If they did not charge you there is no need for you to take action, they are the licence holder and it is their responsibility.  
  • If you performed in a Church or a School with a licence you might still have to pay through us - see notes below.​​​​​​

Churches 

  • A large church that holds lots of concerts will normally have their own venue licence with PRS - basically exactly the same as the licensed venues described above.
  • However, smaller churches that don’t hold many performances may have a CCLI agreement:
    • This covers music for all their acts of worship plus 6 additional performances.
    • The 6 additional performances only covers performances organised by the church or a group associated with a church. This means that if your group is hiring a church as a venue you cannot perform under their CCLI licence - but can pay through Making Music as above.

Schools 

Most schools have a PRS licence, but it only covers the school activities where the entirety of any profits goes back into the school – PRS fees will be covered by the school’s licence. So, if you are hiring a school venue as a 3rd party you will not be covered by their licence and so need to pay PRS fees yourselves, via Making Music.

You can pay PRS fees via Making Music: 

When our membership renewals open in November you can pay PRS fees for performance in unlicensed venues through us. For free events we collect fees based on audience size per concert. For ticketed events we collect fees based on a percentage of gross ticket income. You can find our more about fees on our PRS tariff page.

Programmes 

As part of paying through us you also need to submit details of the music performed (so PRS for Music can distribute the royalties to the copyright owners). You can do this by through an online form. We will provide more details when renewals open. 

For performances in venues with a PRS licence your PRS fees will have been covered by the venue's licence and there is no need for you to pay anything to Making Music 

Please note: 

  • The venue will most likely have charged you for PRS as part of the hire (normally based on a percentage of box office). If they did not charge you there is no need for you to take action, they are the licence holder and it is their responsibility.  
  • If you performed in a Church or a School with a licence you might still have to pay through us - see notes below.

For performances in unlicensed venues you can pay PRS fees via Making Music when our membership renewale open in November. For free events we collect fees based on audience size per concert. For ticketed events we collect fees based on a percentage of gross ticket income. You can find our more about fees on our PRS tariff page.

Programmes 

As part of paying through us you also need to submit details of the music performed (so PRS for Music can distribute the royalties to the copyright owners). You can do this by through an online form. We will provide more details when renewals open.  

Churches 

  • A large church that holds lots of concerts will normally have their own venue licence with PRS - basically exactly the same as the licensed venues described above.
  • However, smaller churches that don’t hold many performances may have a CCLI agreement:
    • This covers music for all their acts of worship plus 6 additional performances.
    • The 6 additional performances only covers performances organised by the church or a group associated with a church. This means that if your group is hiring a church as a venue you cannot perform under their CCLI licence - but can pay through Making Music as above.

Schools 

Most schools have a PRS licence, but it only covers the school activities where the entirety of any profits goes back into the school – PRS fees will be covered by the school’s licence. So, if you are hiring a school venue as a 3rd party you will not be covered by their licence and so need to pay PRS fees yourselves, via Making Music.

 

 

 

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