Guidance

Our corporate member Rayburn Tours share their best practice tips on transporting instruments when your member group is on tour.

Our corporate member Rayburn Tours share their tips on how to continue promoting your music group after a tour.

Our corporate member Rayburn Tours share their valuable insight on the things a member group needs to do before enquiring for a concert tour.

Whether it be performing in cathedrals or embracing local culture, concert tours present choirs, bands and orchestras with fantastic opportunities to develop and perform to international audiences. Understanding how to plan a tour ensures its smooth running. 

Resources (available for Making Music members)

Guidance (in collaboration with RayburnTours)

If your music group performs in public, you may need to pay royalties to the composers whose works you use. This is where PRS for Music comes in. Understanding how PRS fees work ensures your group remains compliant while supporting the creators behind the music you perform. 

Who is PRS for Music? 

PRS for Music is the UK’s royalty collection society for songwriters, composers, and music publishers. It collects fees from those who publicly perform or play copyrighted music and distributes these royalties to the creators. 

For our seventh meeting in our Climate Network series (original event 9 May 2025), we heard from some inspiring speakers on some useful tools music groups could use to become more sustainable.

The speakers for this event were:

In this recording of our webinar (original event 1 May 2025), and the first in a new series of lunchtime webinars presented by our corporate members, we heard from TryBooking.

Recruiting new members is the biggest challenge leisure-time music groups face. From ensuring your recruitment process is inclusive, to figuring out where to find new members, it us, unfortunately, not an exact science; but there are some tried-and-trusted strategies you can implement.

Recruiting toolkit

Our five-part series covers every step of the recruitment journey, from defining who do you want as a member, understanding your current membership, and finding and recruiting new members.

Many music groups assume that classical music is automatically royalty-free, but that’s not the case. While some classical works are out of copyright, performing them may still require a PRS for Music licence. 

When is classical music exempt from PRS fees?

A classical piece is generally exempt from PRS fees if: 

When your music group performs you may need a PRS for Music licence. Some groups may also need a PPL licence if they use recorded music, such as backing tracks. Understanding the difference between these two licences ensures your group stays compliant and pays the correct fees. 

PRS for Music vs PPL: Key differences 

Both PRS for Music and PPL ensure that musicians and music creators receive fair payment for their work, but they cover different rights: