When a song plays on the radio, in a shop or on a television programme, money can flow to several different groups of people, through more than one organisation. This article explains the two sets of rights behind a recorded song, who collects for each, and how one of those collecting societies divides its income.
One song, two sets of rights
A recorded song is really two creative works at once. The first is the composition: the music and the lyrics, written by songwriters and composers and often managed by music publishers. The second is the sound recording: the particular performance captured in a studio, owned in most cases by a record company or other recording rightsholder, and featuring performers such as singers and session musicians.
Each of these carries its own copyright, and using the song in public usually means getting permission for both. That is why two organisations exist in the UK. According to PPL, it represents recording rightsholders and performers for the use of their recordings and performances, while PRS for Music represents songwriters, composers and music publishers for the use of their compositions and lyrics.
A simple way to hold the distinction in mind: PPL deals with the recording, PRS for Music deals with the song itself. Someone who both wrote a track and performed on it may need to register with both organisations, because they hold rights on each side.
Why collective licensing exists
Imagine a pub, a local radio station or a gym wanting to play music legally. Strictly, it would need permission from every owner of every recording and every composition it played. That would mean contacting thousands of rightsholders, which is impractical for the business and for the owners alike.
PPL explains the solution in its own guidance: recorded music is protected by copyright, and using it in broadcasts, online services or business music services generally requires permission from each rightsholder. A PPL licence provides that permission in one place on their behalf, and PPL says its licence covers virtually all commercially released recorded music available in the UK. The licence fee then flows back to the owners, rather than each owner negotiating with every user.
Which licence does a business need?
The answer depends on how the music is used. PPL’s licensing pages list a range, including:
| Use | Licence named by PPL |
|---|---|
| Playing music to customers or colleagues in a pub, shop or office | TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS |
| Commercial radio stations | Traditional Radio Licence from PPL |
| Community radio | Joint licence from PPL and PRS for Music, administered by PPL |
| Online radio and simulcasts | PPL Linear Webcast Licence |
| Television and online audio-visual services | PPL licences, with VPL licences for music videos |
The pattern is that broadcasting recorded music will in most instances need a licence from both organisations. PPL states that a music licence is required from both PPL and PRS for Music to legally broadcast recorded music. For venues, the two societies have simplified matters through a joint arrangement, so a single licence covers the playing of music in public.
How does PPL split the money?
PPL collects licence fees, deducts the cost of running the organisation, and distributes the remainder. It says it does not retain a profit and that it pays out hundreds of millions of pounds to its members every year. It describes itself as the licensing organisation for over 150,000 performer and recording rightsholder members, though the page giving that figure is undated.
The key rule is the split. According to PPL’s explanation of how royalties are calculated, for UK public performance and broadcast income, once costs are deducted one half of the money is allocated to the relevant recording rightsholder member, and the other half goes to performers who qualify for royalties on that recording.
Two conditions matter:
- If a performer does not qualify for a particular track, their share goes to the rightsholder or rightsholders.
- For activities where performers have no royalty right, such as copying, the whole amount goes to the rightsholder.
A worked example
The arithmetic below is purely illustrative and does not describe any real track. Suppose a recording generates £100 of distributable income from UK broadcast after costs. Half, £50, is allocated to the recording rightsholder. The other £50 goes to the qualifying performers. If two qualifying performers had agreed equal shares between them, each would receive £25. PPL says that where several performers are involved, the division follows a performer share agreement or its Performer Allocation Policy, so equal shares are only one possible arrangement.
What decides how much a recording earns?
Not every play is worth the same. PPL says each recording’s allocation depends on how often it was played and on factors including the radio station or television channel that played it, the amount of airplay it has received and the size of the audience.
To work this out, PPL receives reporting from radio and television broadcasters, music suppliers and UK businesses. It matches what was played against the PPL Repertoire Database, which it says holds information on more than 28 million commercially released recordings. Accurate registration is therefore the foundation of getting paid: a recording that is not properly identified in the database cannot easily be matched to the right owner.
PPL also says it pays royalties to its members four times a year. Its published 2026 schedule lists dates including 30 June 2026 for the main UK annual payments for PPL and VPL, and 17 December 2026 for the UK adjustment payment. The page’s layout leaves some of the other rows unclear, so the full calendar is best checked on PPL’s own page.
Why is a stream different from a broadcast?
Readers often assume one organisation handles everything. It does not. PPL states that there are rights in recorded music it does not manage, giving the example of the on-demand streaming of specific tracks. Its role covers playing music in public, broadcasting it, and copying it for those purposes.
So the money from a listener choosing a particular track on demand follows a different route from the money from that same track being played on a radio station. This helps explain why the figures people see quoted for “streaming income” and for “radio income” cannot be compared directly, and why a recording artist’s earnings come from several streams rather than a single payment. For a view of how listening is counted for chart purposes, which is a separate exercise from royalty collection, see our guide to how the UK singles chart is counted.
Where film and television fit in
Music in screen productions follows the same logic with extra layers. A programme that includes recorded music or music videos and is then sold to other broadcasters needs additional permissions: PPL lists a Secondary Sales Licence for selling television programmes that contain recorded music or music videos, and VPL licences for music videos.
Behind the scenes, the people who clear and supervise music are part of the wider production chain. Our explainer on who does what in film credits shows how those roles appear in the credits readers see at the end of a film, and the film festival calendar shows where many of those productions first reach an audience.
Practical points for musicians and small venues
A few steady principles follow from the published guidance:
- Know which side you are on. Writers, composers and publishers deal with PRS for Music. Recording owners and performers deal with PPL. People who do both may need to register with both.
- Register accurately. Both societies match reported plays against their own databases, so correct details are the starting point for any payment.
- Venues usually need a licence. A business playing music to customers generally needs TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS, and radio stations need the licences matched to their type.
- Do not expect one body to cover everything. On-demand streaming of specific tracks sits outside PPL’s remit.
For anyone with a specific query about their own rights or obligations, the societies’ own guidance is the place to start.
A system built on two registers
The short version is that every public play of a recording touches two registers, one for the song and one for the recording, and each society collects and distributes on behalf of its own members. PPL’s published method is clear on the central point: after costs, half goes to the recording rightsholder and half to qualifying performers, with allocation shaped by where, how often and to how large an audience the recording was played. Understanding that division makes it easier to read the claims made about what music earns, and to see why a single hit can pay out in so many directions.
This article is general information based on published guidance from PPL and is not legal advice. Licence requirements and payment dates can change, so check the current terms with PPL and PRS for Music.
Sources: PPL (How royalties are calculated); PPL (Royalty payment dates); PPL (Licensing: what is a music licence and which is right for me?); PPL (About us); PPL (Difference between PPL and PRS for Music); PPL (What is PRS for Music and do I need a separate licence from them?); PPL (Getting started with royalties)
