As part of your renewal you must either:
- declare you don’t owe any PRS fees via Making Music (If your venue already holds a PRS licence and has charged you for PRS, there’s no need to pay us as well but you do need to declare that you have no PRS fees to pay through Making Music)
- Declare that you will pay PRS fees due for performances that took place between 1 November 2023 and 31 October 2024 through Making Music.
If you pay PRS fees before 11 December you will receive a 5% discount on PRS fees. This applies to PRS only and not to membership or insurance.
There has been changes to the Making Music PRS collection scheme this year, more information about this and how to pay PRS fees through Making Music is outlined below. We have also created a handy PRS Guide to help you PRS Guidance (PDF). Before paying fees make sure you have read the information outlined below. You can then pay PRS fees or declare you have no fees to pay through the PRS Self-Assessment tool.
Changes to paying PRS through Making Music this year
In September 2023, PRS introduced new rates for leisure-time music groups, which vary based on whether the event was ticketed or not. See the new rates below:
Non-ticketed and free events
For free events leisure time music groups get a 50% discount off their PRS fees. The fees due are based on the audience size of the event.
Ticketed events
Under the new tariff, PRS fees for ticketed events are based on a percentage of gross ticket income for each event.
- Amateur groups (as defined by PRS) will pay 3.25% of gross ticket income plus VAT
- Groups that do not qualify as amateur will pay 6.5% of gross ticket income plus VAT
- There is a minimum fee of £32.49 per performance plus VAT.
*PRS definition of amateur: 'Amateurs means an individual or group operated by volunteers, whose performers are primarily unpaid. If a group earns ticket revenue, they may still be considered Amateur if the majority of revenue goes towards the running of the group (e.g. transportation costs, venue hire, score rental etc). Groups are still considered Amateur if they engage a small minority of professionals to assist with the group performances (e.g. hiring a conductor, substitute players in the event of illness) If an event is organised by a third-party promoter, it cannot be classified as Amateur.'
The full prices can be found on our website.
How to pay PRS fees?
We have created a handy PDF document to provide you with the full guidance on paying PRS fees through Making Music. Some general information can also be found below.
When renewing the group's membership and insurance (if applicable), you will be asked to either declare you have no PRS fees to pay through Making Music, or declare that you do have PRS fees to pay through Making Music and will pay for these separately. If fees are owed then you can pay PRS separately to your renewal by using the PRS self-assessment tool.
If you do have PRS fees to pay through Making Music then you will also need to send us your programme information for these performances. More information can be found in our PRS Programme Details section below.
If you’re not sure what PRS fees are or whether you owe any, have a look at our guidance to find out more. Watch our introductory videos and read the full guidance or use our PRS self-assessment tool.
