Advice on Joining PRS

Subject: Advice on Joining PRS
From: David Shevelew
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 12:52 PM

I know there are threads discussing the negative side of PRS but i am a gigging musician starting out and i have festival and folk club bookings.

Im looking for a clear explanation of the transfer of rights of my own work if i join, what exactly does this mean?

Also, given that my set is 85% my own songs am i likely to earn any real royalties from large festivals and some folk club gigs?

Thanks in advance

David

Subject: RE: Advice on Joining PRS
From: treewind
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 01:58 PM

Yes, you can earn writer's royalties from performances of your own songs, and any venue where they have to send PRS returns. That certainly means festivals, and to a lesser extant can be made to apply to clubs using their "small gigs and clubs" system.

Subject: RE: Advice on Joining PRS
From: GUEST, Tom Bliss
Date: 19 Apr 11 - 05:28 AM

David it is definitely worth joining. Just go to the PRS Website and fill in the form,

Then you can fill in online forms to register each of your songs, and also any arrangements of traditional works you may make.

Festivals and larger gigs that play in venues listed as concert venues will ask you to fill in a green form (which then goes to PRS), and you also, as treewind says, send in a spreadsheet with a 'generic' typical set list, together with a list of other gigs played (no matter where) for all the others. So no gig goes unpaid. (Once, you could only send in a form every 50 gigs, then they dropped that, but now there may be a limit again but I'm out of touch so you need to check).   

I stopped touring two years ago and get very little radio play at the moment but still get a healthy cheque every quarter.

Tom