Music Venue Trust CEO hits out at "disgraceful" livestream licence fee imposed by PRS

Yesterday (27 January) the Performing Rights Society (PRS) announced a licence fee for ticketed livestream events of a certain size, resulting in music industry bodies including the Music Venue Trust slamming the new fee.

PRS' new licence costs £22.50 plus VAT for livestreams bringing in £250 or less, and is £45 for events with revenues between £251-£500.

Leading music industry bodies have since criticised the new 'tax', as livestream events have been providing musicians (established and new) with a source of income while touring has been put on hold due to the pandemic.

Speaking to The Guardian about the introduction of the new licence fee, Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd called the fee "disgraceful", and added that he thinks livestream shows by emerging artists will likely "grind to a halt" as a result. He added, "It is a tax in the middle of a crisis on people who need the money. No venues or promoters are making money [from livestreamed gigs] – it’s for artists or for charities they care about."

Music Venue Trust also posted a statement on socials yesterday (27 January) responding to the new licence fee, "The team at MVT have been in regular correspondence with the live team at PRS for Music throughout this crisis on how we can work together to ensure everyone at a grassroots level emerges from this crisis and we can all get back to work. At no time during those regular conversations across 8 months has anybody suggested that a new tariff for streaming would be created. We have not been consulted on such a Tariff, advised of it, or even notified of it prior to this press release being issued."

The statement added, "It is extremely important to the grassroots sector that the songwriters whose work sit at the heart of our ecosystem are adequately and reasonable paid for their work. A fixed rate Tariff is not a mechanism by which that will be achieved, and the methodology and rate proposed by PRS for Music will not result in grassroots songwriters being paid for their work."

MUSIC VENUE TRUST OFFICIAL RESPONSE TO @PRSforMusic ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW ONLINE STREAMING TARIFF
Read on Facebook: https://t.co/gMKM27YLoo

Statement: pic.twitter.com/wey3e9TOzz

— Music Venue Trust (@musicvenuetrust) January 27, 2021

The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) CEO David Martin, and Music Managers Forum's (MMF) chief executive Annabella Coldrick urged the PRS to "stop acting unilaterally" and to "implement a waiver for performer-writers to opt out of such fees."