If your Brighton Fringe 2025 event charges for a ticket and uses licensed music in any way, you will need to provide a list of that music in Eventotron in Step 9: Music Usage.
Using this information, our Artist & Venue Services Team will assist you in working out your PPL PRS Ltd contributions (see below for more information about PPL PRS Ltd). This is all part of the support we offer to you during Fringe!
Brighton Fringe will then advise you of any fees payable to PPL PRS. The PPL PRS fee will be deducted from your Brighton Fringe Box Office settlement before you receive it.
All events in the 2025 season must complete STEP 9: MUSIC USAGE in their Eventotron registration by 17.00 16 May 2025.
Venues need to hold a PPL PRS licence to play any copyrighted music before and after your event takes place, but this will not be valid for the music used during your Fringe event. If a venue does not hold an existing PPL PRS licence they can obtain a background music licence for the duration of the Fringe. We will have exact rates for this licence by January 2025; the rate for 2024 was £80+VAT. Please email [email protected] for more details.
Fringe events wishing to digitally live stream a small-scale ticketed event originating in the UK have to obtain an OLC licence. This includes DJs, classical and popular music as well as theatre and variety shows. You can find more information about OLC licences here.
You will need to get an OLC licence from PRS, and we will deduct PPL in line with the tariffs for in-person shows.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why do I need to tell Brighton Fringe about the music used in my event?
Since 2014, Brighton Fringe Ltd has worked in partnership with PPL PRS to ensure royalties are deducted where copyrighted music has been used. We do this for 2 reasons:
What is PPL PRS?
PPL PRS Ltd is a not-for-profit music licensing organisation that collects royalties on behalf of its 104,000 songwriter, composer and publisher members whenever their music is played, performed, broadcast or reproduced.
The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 says that permission is required from the copyright owner in order to play music in public - i.e. outside the home and domestic life. A PPL PRS licence makes it easy to get the permission you need, allowing millions of copyright songs to be played live or by any recorded means (for example, on CD or jukebox) or via the internet, TV or radio. A PPL and PRS for Music licence is required for music use whether you are playing that music live, using a recorded version, or via a TV or radio broadcast.
What’s the difference between PPL PRS? Do I need to pay for both?
PRS fees relate to the use of musical compositions. These fees are distributed as royalties to composers who have registered their compositions with PRS or an affiliated performing rights organisation such as APRA in Australia or ASCAP in the US.
PPL fees relate to the use of specific musical recordings. These fees are distributed as royalties to the rightsholders of that recording, such as record labels and the musicians who played on the recording in question. As with PRS, PPL can collect fees on behalf of affiliate organisations around the world.
For example, if in your show you play a live cover of Yellow Submarine by the Beatles, only a PRS licence would be required. If in your show you dance to the recording of Yellow Submarine that features on the Beatles’ album Revolver, both a PRS and a PPL licence would be required.
Paying a PRS fee will not affect whether you need to pay a PPL fee. Likewise, paying a PPL fee does not affect your potential need to pay a PRS fee. You may need to pay one, both or neither of these fees; regardless, you’ll still need to complete a PPL PRS declaration form.
What if my event doesn’t use any music?
Then you don’t need to pay for music usage – but you need to tell us in the Music Section in Eventotron. If no music is used in your event, you can state this and will not need to complete anything else in this section.
What if I / my company composed the music for my event?
If any of the composers are members of PPL PRS Ltd, royalties may still be owed. In this case, you would then need to contact PPL PRS to arrange a rebate, once the royalty has been deducted by Brighton Fringe. If none of the composers are PPL PRS members, no royalties will be owed, but you still list the music used to prove this.
My venue already has a PPL PRS licence. Do I still need to tell you about the music in my event?
Yes. Your venue’s PRS licence is superseded by Brighton Fringe’s licence. So your venue manager should not declare your event on their PRS licence. The only exception to this, is that their licence covers your event for background music only (ie. Music as audience enter and exit, not part of the performance). If your venue doesn’t have a PPL PRS licence in place, PPL PRS can sell them a temporary one for the duration of the Fringe.
What if I don’t tell you about the music I use?
Brighton Fringe Ltd.’s agreement with PPL PRS works on the assumption that copyrighted music has been used unless proved otherwise. So, if you don’t complete the music section of your event registration, we will assume that copyrighted music was used for 100% of the running time, and charge accordingly.
How do I know if a piece of music is in copyright?
For each piece of music you declare to us, you will need to let us know whether this piece of music is in copyright or not. The copyright status of a composition and/or recording influences whether you will be required to pay a fee to PRS for its use.
In the UK, copyright lasts for a period of 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies. If the music originates from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), the copyright lasts for as long as the music is protected by copyright in its country of origin, provided that this does not exceed 70 years.
If you are unsure of whether the music used in your show is copyrighted or not, it’s usually safe to assume that it is.
I’m using backing tracks; will I still owe PPL PRS royalties?
Yes. The tune was still composed by someone and is likely to be in copyright.
Why can’t I have longer to give you the information?
We must manually check the music calculations for approximately 800 events, and then agree the figure for each event with PPL PRS Ltd. This is a lengthy process! Our terms and conditions state that we will pay Box Office Settlements within 6 weeks of Brighton Fringe ending. To make sure we can meet this deadline and give you your hard-earned money, we must start processing PPL PRS royalties as soon as Brighton Fringe finishes.
Settlements for all Brighton Fringe events are processed together, to ensure that our figures add up to the amount we have taken through our Box Office. Therefore, it’s not possible to process your event’s settlement later – any delays affect all Brighton Fringe events.
The tariffs are based on ALL ticket sales – how will you know about tickets sold through channels other than the Brighton Fringe Box Office?
We will know if you had any other tickets to sell by looking at the allocation of tickets you gave the Brighton Fringe Box Office to sell. If PPL PRS royalties are owed, you will be asked to send us the figures for any tickets sold through other channels such as your venue or door sales. From this we can work out how much is owed in total. If you don’t let us know this information when asked, we have to assume that all tickets (other than those in our allocation) were sold at full price and calculate accordingly.
My event is free to attend, will I owe PPL PRS royalties?
No. In 2015 we negotiated with PRS that free or donations events don’t pay royalties, as nothing has been earned. Please select 'Not Relevant (my event is free or donations)' from the drop-down options in the Music section of Eventotron to complete.
When and how do I pay PPL PRS royalties?
Any monies owed will be deducted from your Brighton Fringe Box Office Settlement and will be clearly shown on your Settlement Statement (appears on your Eventotron Event around 6 weeks post festival). You do not have to pay anything in advance. Box Office Settlement payments are paid 6 weeks after the end of Brighton Fringe, to the person specified in your event registration. In some cases, your settlement will be sent directly to your venue first, who will then need to work out your final settlement which includes ticket sales through their own Box Office.
Talking to the Box Office...
