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1. Unit 45: Commercial Production for Radio
What is music copyright?
Music copyright is when an artist has protection over their piece. In other words, the only
people who are allowed to use that song in a public domain are the artist and the company
who produced the song. If a piece of music is protected by copyright this means that you
must not broadcast it without clearing it, reporting it and paying for it. Depending on how
big the artist is could differentiate the price in buying the song for use on airtime. Also,
playing the song at peak times (such as rush hour and weekends) could impact the cost a
radio station has to pay in order to get the most listeners listening to that song.
How do musicians get paid?
The money musicians and composers get paid when their work is used is usually referred to
as royalties. There are two organizations who manage these payments. They are PRS for
Music and PPL. PRS for Music look after song writers, composers and publishers. PPL look
after the people who record the music, the labels and artists. Anyone who plays music in
public, whether they are music venues, pubs, restaurants, shops or broadcasters, have to
pay for two licenses, one to PRS for Music and one to PPL. The money that these 2
companies get goes directly to people involved in music producing.
What is PRS?
PRS for music is a non-profit organization who tend to look after the song writers, the
composers and the publishers. They generally sort out all of the legal issues with any certain
song. In order for a public place (such as a sporting venue, pub/bar or even a shopping
Centre) to play any mainstream music, they would have to pay the PRS for the cost of
airtime, which the PRS split and calculate and whatever price they ask for tends to go to the
artist and people included within the making of a track so they can generate money.
Another company which takes money for licensing fees and pays the music producer is the
PPL. The PPL look after the people behind the actual track (recording studio technicians etc.)
and the money they get goes directly to them and the artist.
Explain the process of gaining clearance for music copyright
Larger production companies may have bigger budgets or a blanket agreement which will
allow you to use a large amount of commercial music. Productions on a smaller budget may
not have the money to pay for the right to use commercial music, so options could be
limited to library music. After you have the budget, you’ll need to go to the PRS and the PPL
in order to get clearance. PRS for Music and PPL represent thousands of composers and
musicians and can provide clearance for you to use a certain piece of music. If the musicians
are not represented by PRS for Music or PPL then you will have to go to the composer
and/or record label directly to obtain permission.
Blanket agreements
Some larger independent production companies and broadcasters, including the BBC, pay a
yearly fee to PRS for Music which allows them to use any PRS-managed music without
obtaining an individual license every time music is used. This is called a blanket license
agreement. If your production company or broadcaster has a blanket license agreement

2. with PRS for Music, then you won't have to pay for the music directly from your production
budget, but you must still fill in a music cue sheet to report what you are using.
Reporting music use and what happened if a broadcaster fails to do this.
Reporting your music basically means paying for it. Even if you have cleared the music
through PRS for Music or the artist directly you still need to report it. You will need to fill in a
cue sheet that will eventually make its way to PRS and PPL.