The Stage

Composers vow to fight change in royalty payments

Published Tuesday 26 June 2007 at 14:55 by Matthew Hemley

Composers are fighting “disastrous” changes to TV royalty payments which they claim will reduce their incomes and force newcomers out of the profession.

The Performing Right Society has introduced a new weighting system that will see television composers whose work is used in programmes between 6pm and midnight earn more than those whose music is featured in daytime and children’s programming.

It claims that an influx of new channels and an increase in the amount of composers’ work being used by broadcasters - who pay a blanket annual fee for a licence to play the music - has led to a decrease in the amount of money available per minute to each member.

The PRS also argues the new payment system solves the problem of money being “taken out of the pot” and paid to “relatively unwatched programming”, including those that go out in the early hours of the morning.

Composers say the PRS should be asking broadcasters to pay more rather than slicing their royalties and have put together a petition calling on the organisation to revert the decision. More than 650 composers have already signed it.

Composer Paul Farrer, whose work is used in BBC’s The Weakest Link, which goes out before 6pm, said: “This will be disastrous for so many members.

“They are asking people in daytime to subsidise those whose work is used in primetime, but the irony is they are the ones more established making the most anyway.”

He said the system was flawed because it did not reflect the fact that some afternoon programmes like The Weakest Link or Deal or No Deal can attract more viewers than programmes in the new designated “peak time slots”.

The decision, which members say was made without proper consultation, has also prompted concern from music publishers who share in revenue generated by their composers’ work.

Some fear broadcasters like ITV, which has an arrangement with EMI, will only use music from its own publishers in order to make the most return on peak time programmes.

A spokesperson for the PRS said members had been consulted about the changes, which will be phased in over three years, but added: “The PRS board is democratically elected by the membership to make policy decisions for the benefit of the membership as a whole.

“Faced with the rapidly changing nature of the broadcast industry, the board needed to address its TV royalties distribution policy to create a new and fairer system for the entire membership.”

He said the board would review the policy change through the course of the year to “ensure its fairness and accuracy”.