Music at Festivals - Frequently Asked Questions
Why does a festival need a PRS Music Licence?
Any music which is played outside the domestic or home life is regarded as a public performance. The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 means that if you use copyright music in public to lawfully do so you require the permission of the copyright owner for every piece of music that is being performed.
PRS makes it easy to obtain the necessary permission by issuing a PRS Music Licence. A PRS Music Licence allows you to lawfully play a vast repertoire of millions of songs, written and published by our members and those of our affiliated societies throughout the world.
However due to many festivals having more than one venue it has become increasingly difficult to monitor what festivals are taking place and where, therefore PRS looks to the festival organiser to ensure that they have the correct licences to stage the event, covering all relevant sites during the duration of the festival. This in turn ensures that PRS members and those of our affiliated societies are correctly paid for any performances made at the festival.
What's in it for me as a Festival Organiser?
- By forwarding the details of the programme/set list you are guaranteed an accurate assessment and will only be charged for what is played.
- You can take advantage of the variable price mechanism based on a percentage of the copyright music as a proportion of the programme at classical music events.
- You will have direct control over your festival budget.
- You will have a hotline direct to the music experts.
How are PRS charges assessed?
You will be charged according to a range of over 40 tariffs published by PRS, appropriate to the different categories of premises and types of performance.
The tariffs that may apply to your festival are:
Usually PRS contact festival organisers prior to a festival to obtain a diary of events to be held during the festival and to request box office receipts for events. Once box office receipts and programme details or set lists have been received, PRS calculates the royalty payable and raises an invoice for the festival.
Must all performances be paid for?
Currently, PRS does not seek to charge for music used at recognised Service of Divine Worship in consecrated places of worships such as Christian churches and cathedrals (and places of worship of other faiths) having no admission charge.
What about theatrical presentations?
PRS does not control dramatico-musical works (operas, musical plays, pantomimes and revues in so far as they consist of words and music written expressly for them) and staged ballets, for which prior permission must be sought directly from the publisher or other copyright owner.
Permission to use interpolated, pre-existing music in the stage action of plays and ‘compilation shows’ must be obtained prior to planned performances, such uses are not authorised by a PRS Music Licence unless the copyright owner has given clearance. Further information can be found on the theatres section of this site.
How does PRS distribute the income it collects?
When a licence is requested it is a condition that the licensee shall supply details of all musical works to be publicly performed. This information is needed primarily to assist PRS to distribute royalties to writers and publishers. It also helps to identify performances which contain no PRS controlled works for which no royalty is therefore due.
With regard to festivals, printed programmes or set lists should be supplied for all live performances of music under the following PRS public performance tariffs:
Programme forms are available, on request from the Concert Sales Centre: call 0845 300 6033, or email live.musiclicence@prs.co.uk.
You can download Popular Programme Forms, for LP, GP and GP events.