The PRS or performing rights society is a royalty collection society that was formed in 1914, as the organization was formed in 1997. As this had then begun to bring together two collections societies; the mechanical copy rights society, which I will go in to more later and performing rights society.
When registered with the PRS, this allows a songwriter, composer or publisher to begin earning money through out it. The example of this is if there music is used on radio station, TV or even advert, also any business using music, all PRS may buy a license that gives them the permission to play or use member’s music. Therefore this means the music used is then reported to PRS for music logs, also live sets lists from festivals and gigs and so on. This is then used to match up to what they have a record, and this helps to work out how much money go’s to which writer.
In every country this is used also, so this means they have representation deals set in places, as music abroad they do a similar job, making sure the money gets paid to the PRS, so they can pay there members. This also happens in French, German, and American etc.
PRS is a non-profit- making organization. When paying and operating costs are deducted, the rest of the money is given to the copy- rights holders. The owners of the copy-rights in the recording itself are saved by an unrelated organization, for example, a cover version of a song is played on radio 1. The PRS collects a fee on behalf of the writer and publisher.
Mechanical copyright protection society –
The mechanical copyright protection society or MCPS, exists to make sure that when music CD’s are pressed, that the writer of the works featured on the CD and paid a royalty from the CD. Therefore most music publishers in the UK register all their work with MCPS. MCPS is also now put under the PRS. Which for both the performing rights society and mechanical copyright protection society are still separate