PRS breaks £billion barrier as revenue rises 12%

As the subscription music streaming model increases public performance rights, major collective management organizations are seeing their best years. On May 28, just hours after Swedish CMO STIM reported a 14.2% increase in revenue, UK CMP PRS for Music announced that in 2023 it will receive £1.08 billion ($1.34 billion based on the average pound to dollar in 2023 ), breaking the billion pound barrier with 12% growth. It also paid a record 943.6 million pounds ($1.17 billion).

PRS also reduced its cost-to-income ratio to 9.2%, a particular focus for CEO Andrea Czapary Martin, who wants to keep it below 10%. Last year it was 9.3%.

Over the past decade, PRS has more than doubled its revenue, which has increased by 111% since 2014. This is an amazing run for the organization, which turns 100 this year. Its membership also increased by 10,000, an unprecedented increase.

“Our remarkable performance in 2023 is a testament to the hard work of the team behind the scenes in the music industry,” said Martin. “We're not just breaking financial milestones with the lowest cost-to-income ratio among our peers. we are orchestrating a major shift in the music industry.

Like some of its peers, PRS received the most revenue from online licensing — ​£366.5m ($455.5m), up 8.5%. distribution was £360.3 million ($447.8 million), up 23.2. It was followed by international, which brought in £339.3m ($421.7m), up 25.9%. Public performance rights, traditionally the core of a PRO, totaled £251.7m ($312.8m), up 10%.

While it's difficult to directly compare CMOs, PRS has had quite a few strong years and its cost-to-income ratio is enviable. For much of the last decade, it was over 10%. For the past two years, it has been below that, partly because it can share some costs with the ICE consortium it runs with GEMA and STIM.