It's very clumsy, but I think the organisations do what they can to make it as fair as it possibly can be, given the time and resources at their disposal.
so
- airplay on the radio gets logged - major stations submit full playlists, smaller stations submit "sample" playlists at select intervals... pirates are off the radar, of course... moves are being made to enforce a similar set-up on internet radio, but that's gonna be tricky because the laws will be different according to which country your server is based in (as I understand it).
- airplay on TV (as background music to
alan titchmarsh's pansy hour, for example) also gets logged
for both of the above, if you are member of the PRS, you receive a breakdown of which tracks were played, when they were played, and where they were played (both UK and international). you then receive a set fee according to how long the track was played (broken up into 30 second segments, so 31 seconds of airtime is worth twice as much as 30 seconds of airtime).
all of the above is funded by the annual license fee that radio one, for example, pays to the PRS. it's a lump sum, paid into a "pot", which is then re-distributed by the PRS according to the playlist information they have received. in basic terms - the more airtime you have officially received, the more money you get. international broadcasting income takes about a year to come through. UK broadcasting income takes about 6 months.
for other areas of public performance, it all becomes much more vague. as I pointed out above, any public space that has music playing should have a license, which is bought from the PRS (or whoever). this money is then put in "the pot" and redistributed evenly to PRS members at certain intervals in the year.
so the result is - you make about £2.70 a year from karaoke, even if your music has been nowhere near a karaoke bar
... it's the same with jukeboxes... anything that involves the public and music, but would be a nightmare to fully account for through playlist submission is included under this blanket distribution system.
I've heard that they are starting to phase in playlist submission forms for club DJs now, so that any income from club licenses can be distributed in a similar way to the radio and TV income (i.e. more plays = more money). at present such a system is only in place for big events like festivals, where the PRS can pay someone to sit next to each stage all day and ask each performer (djs and bands alike) to fill in a setlist. it's open to abuse, of course - a lot of djs seem to play nothing but their own material (or their mates'), for example.
some people are expressing concern that such a scheme could mean that the big boys like sony might start bribing venues to book djs that play sony music, so that they receive more publishing revenue... but I don't share that kind of fatalism (though I can certainly accept that it's possible). we'll see...
aaaanyway - publishing.... it's a bit of a headache, but it can mean the difference between having a career in music and...er...
not having a career in music. god bless lifestyle shows and top gear.
