MCPS collect royalties for composers, songwriters, artists and publishers. They’ve reported that in 2023 the total distributions grew, which leads to profits.
MCPS, the UK society that collects royalties for publishers and songwriters, has reported strong results for 2023. The total distributions grew by 8.5% to £204.3 million ($260.5 million) last year. According to MCPS, this increase was due to the growth of streaming.
They also mentioned the ongoing popularity of vinyl records, and rising international royalty collections. Over the past five years, distributions have increased by 43%, while the number of MCPS members has grown by 32%.
Thereby adding more than 9,000 publishers, songwriters, and composers. This means more creatives within the music industry are collecting their rightful earnings. More individuals are being paid than ever before. Something that should be celebrated.
“There’s no better way to celebrate our 100th anniversary than with our biggest distribution in nearly 20 years and surpassing £4 billion in total payments to publishers, songwriters, and composers this century,” said CEO Paul Clements.
MCPS feel growth will only come from mechanical copyright
However, chair Jackie Alway emphasised that it will be crucial to maintain the strength of mechanical copyright in the coming years. This is to ensure fair compensation for those who create music. It’s long been argued artists aren’t paid enough by stores.
With companies like MCPS, artists will earn as much as they can. Of course, there will still be blocks along the way. Stores like TikTok have fallen out with music companies over their unfair payments. But, the more this comes into light, the more likely we are to see change.
Spotify tends to be extremely open about their payments. It’s important creators can see how much they could earn before distributing their music. There shouldn’t be secrets within the world of music. However, sadly, there often is.
Hopefully, with companies like MCPS making changes to the industry, we will start to see fairer pay. With them being so open in their reports, we can see where artists, composers and songwriters are missing out.
