PPL Distributes £54.3 Million in Final 2025 Payment, Bringing Annual Total to £277.7 Million

PPL (Phonographic Performance Ltd.), a UK music royalty body has announced the distribution of £54.3 million to performers and recording rightsholders, marking its final payment round of 2025. The payment, made on 17 December, reaches approximately 147,000 beneficiaries worldwide, including more than 8,500 individuals receiving royalties from PPL for the first time.

This latest distribution brings PPL’s total payments for 2025 to a significant £277.7 million, underlining the organisation’s central role in supporting performers and recording rightsholders across the UK and internationally.

The December payment includes revenue generated through VPL, the sister organisation responsible for licensing music videos when they are played in public or broadcast on television. As with previous distributions, payments are made either directly to PPL members or indirectly via partner collective management organisations (CMOs) around the world.

In 2021, The Jamaican and UK Performance Rights Organizations (PROs), JAMMS and PPL, announced a collaboration to “widen the footprint of global royalty collections for Jamaican Producers and Performers,” where their recorded music is played internationally.

Alongside income from UK licensing, PPL says they are also distributing royalties collected from 63 international CMOs. Performer payments from Denmark, Germany and the United States have increased this year due to ongoing improvements in data quality and reporting. In Sweden, performers are benefiting from back payments linked to a historical private copying settlement.

Recording rightsholders are also seeing notable international returns. Significant payments have been distributed from Belgium following improved collaboration on repertoire data, while substantial royalties have also been received from Germany, Hungary, Romania and Spain during this quarter.

Annual Supplementary Remuneration Highlights

A key feature of this final distribution is the Annual Supplementary Remuneration (ASR) Fund, which was established following changes to the copyright term for sound recordings. This year, the fund is paying out £2.3 million, with more than 20,000 non-featured performers receiving ASR payments. These payments relate to thousands of recordings released between 1963 and 1973.

Notably, 2025 marks the first year that Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road qualifies for ASR payments, alongside the enduring seasonal favourite I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day by Wizzard.

In June PPL made a Q2 payment of £96.7 million to 139,000 performers and recording rightsholders according to the organization.

Industry Response

Commenting on the distribution, Shamus Damani, Consultant Director of Business Affairs at Defected Records Limited, praised PPL’s impact, particularly on the international front.

“This year I believe PPL has delivered its largest international Q4 payment to recording rightsholders, helping to ensure that music continues to be a sustainable career choice for both performers and recording rightsholders,” he said. “It is clear from these figures that PPL continues to bring tremendous value to the music industry, and our collaboration with them plays a major part in the continued success of our business.”

Peter Leathem OBE, CEO of PPL, highlighted the collaborative effort behind the results.

“I am pleased to close the year with such a strong payment to performers and recording rightsholders in the UK and beyond,” he said. “My thanks to all the PPL team who work to deliver this positive outcome, as well as all of the CMOs around the world with whom we collaborate on collections, data and technology developments. All of which is making the movement of payments around the world ever more effective and efficient for our members.”

Supporting Artists Worldwide

PPL collects and distributes royalties on behalf of tens of thousands of performers and recording rightsholders, representing a broad spectrum of artists ranging from emerging talent to globally recognised names such as Cat Burns, Lewis Capaldi, Charli xcx, Dua Lipa, and the estate of John Lennon.