British CMO PPL paid out £178.9m ($230m) to its members in 2016 — up 5% year-on-year — with the number of labels and artists it represents rising 30%.
That 2016 distribution figure is up from 2015’s £169.8m, which itself was up 5% on 2014.
The organization’s total annual revenue rose 8% year-on-year in 2016 to £212.1m ($273.6m).
Cost-to-income ratio stood at 14.8% in 2016, up 0.6%, a rise which PPL pinned on investment in the impending UK joint venture for public performance licensing with PRS for Music.
83,102 performers and 9,589 recording rights holders received a PPL payment in 2016. Those numbers were 65,061 and 6,113 in 2015, respectively.
“We are delighted to have had another year of record growth and to have been able to pay out more money to our members than ever before.”
Peter leathem, ppl
Peter Leathem, Chief Executive at PPL, said: “We are delighted to have had another year of record growth and to have been able to pay out more money to our members than ever before.
“This has been made possible by the dedication and commitment that our staff show across all areas of the business and of course, the talents of our members.
“I am very pleased that we remain on course to continue delivering revenue growth, increased efficiency, outstanding customer service for our members and the highest level of customer satisfaction from our licensees.”
Growth was seen across each of its three primary revenue streams; public performance and dubbing, broadcast and international.
PPL’s international collections business saw the most significant rise with £48.3m being collected in 2016 compared to £36.7m in 2015 – a year-on-year increase of 16% on a currency neutral basis.
PPL now has 83 international agreements in place with overseas CMOs to collect this revenue across 39 countries.
Significant collections in 2016 were made from the USA, France and Germany.
Broadcast revenue, from the licensing of recorded music on TV and radio, grew by 2% to £77.4m.
Collections from public performance and dubbing also increased by 2% to £86.4m.
Music Business Worldwide
