I don't know why the PRS is getting such bad press, though it is nothing new to me. So many misconceptions in one thread though.

McGrath - PRS NEVER charges the performer of the songs, so the buskers are perfectly free to do what they like. The VENUE has to have the licence - in this case the Town Council, which recoups this from the entertainment licence it charges the buskers I assume.

The little dance group - look at it the other way round. That teacher was earning money from other peoples work - the people who had written the music those kids were dancing to. If there are still people in the world who think that songwriters do it for free, sorry, it ain't like that.

I once - many years ago - worked for the PRS. I was a sampler - a guy who was paid to go round pubs and clubs and write down what people were singing. Thats all. All the places I went to were licenced, no problem checking up on that or anything punitive. Just to find out WHO to pay the money to. But in several places I nearly got lynched - and no doubt it will be the same here. The PRS employs a large army of people just to do this - so that the writers get paid when people use their songs. So there are a few problems where who owns a song is not clear. And people whose songs don't get heard in the sampling don't get paid. It is still a reasonable system with good intentions - the PRS is NOT a profit-making organisation, but it of course covers its costs.

Would you like it if people used your work to make money for themselves without paying you for it?