Music licensing company, PPL PRS, awarded CICMQ ‘Distinction’ Accreditation

The music organisation, which is a joint venture between the UK’s two music licensing companies, PPL and PRS for Music, was established in 2016 with the specific aim of streamlining music licensing and simplifying the process for their customers.

Previously, businesses and organisations had to obtain a separate licence from PPL and PRS to play copyrighted music in their premises, but now only need a single licence issued by PPL PRS, known as TheMusicLicence.

After their business costs, licence fees collected are passed back to PPL PRS’ parent companies, (PPL and PRS for Music), who distribute royalties to those who create music to ensure they are fairly rewarded for their work.

PPL PRS currently licenses around 400,000 businesses and organisations across the UK and has received the accreditation after continuing to demonstrate their commitment to the integrity of their processes and guidelines, training of their staff to work in a difficult part of the customer journey and supporting their customers through the collections and legal processes. Whilst the majority of music licence accounts are managed effectively through the normal invoicing channels, the business is keen to ensure that those who need extra support are dealt with to the highest standard.

This is as well as taking on board feedback from customers at different parts of the customer journey to look at ways they can further improve.

Examples include following a formalised process to support disputes, which is managed by a dedicated Complaints team, equipping teams with a Licensing Operations Guide (LOG), and compiling a monthly Quality Assurance (QA) report, which checks for invoicing accuracy, tracks compulsory requirements, and monitors service standards.

PPL PRS also uses the review platform, Feefo, to gather customer-oriented feedback and hold regular 1-2-1s across teams to identify individual needs and support with the right courses or coaching.

There is a particularly strong emphasis on supporting employee development across PPL PRS with four active CICM members, including Judith Anderson, Head of Legal Operations, who is level 5 qualified. Alongside them are their team, where over 25% are qualified or currently in studies or undertaking internal courses to develop.

Across the business, PPL PRS employees have access to an online Learning and Development platform and opportunities to partake in funded courses related to their roles. The business is also involved in initiatives such as the “Learning at Work Week” and the “Future Leaders” programme, which is run in conjunction with Leicester University.