MCPS celebrates 100th anniversary in style with Black Tie gala - speeches from CEO and Chair

10 July 2024 - Press release

MCPS Chair, Jackie Alway OBE
Good evening everyone and thank you all for joining us on this special evening to celebrate 100 years of the MCPS. I feel privileged as Chair to welcome so many valued members, partners, and friends of the music publishing community here tonight – especially if you are football fans. Sincere apologies if you are – who knew that mechanical right licensing isn’t the only thing we in the UK can succeed at.

I’m very proud of the vibrant and successful organisation that is the MCPS today, of the work we do and of the way we represent and defend the reproduction rights of songwriters and composers, and so I would like to take a few minutes to revisit some highlights from the journey we’ve been on, and celebrate the many successes we’ve had and the talented people who have made it all possible.

In preparing for tonight, I’ve had the pleasure of delving into the MCPS archives; don’t worry, I’m not going to go back as far as Queen Anne and her renowned talent for copyright legislation – but I will say how struck I was by the similarities between the MCPS of yesterday and the MCPS of today.

When the MCPS was founded in 1924, its mission was threefold:
1. to help songwriters and composers make money legitimately;
2. to prevent money being made from music illegitimately; and
3. to lobby for improved copyright legislation to keep up with the technology aimed at evading it.

A century later, this three-pronged purpose remains central to MCPS’ mission.

More simply put, we are here to protect the value of the song and return the maximum value possible to those who create it.

History
One hundred years ago, the MCPS was formed by the union of the Copyright Protection Society and the Mechanical Copyright Licences Company – or Mecolico, which had been set up by a group of London based music publishers in 1910 to license mechanical rights in the UK.

The newly formed organisation was given a mandate by the 1911 Copyright Act to collect royalties from mass-produced discs that were being played at the time on gramophones, everywhere from music halls and theatres to ballrooms and churches.

A varied and colourful history ensued; even in the 1920s and 30s, the industry was evolving and attuned to new licensing opportunities.

It may be that, in the same way we have been treated in recent years to endless panels about NFTs (remember them?), there was a whole programme of conferences in the 20s and 30s awash with keynotes about the shift from wax cylinders to shellac-based discs. Although we would definitely be doing shellac discs a disservice by making that comparison.

And just before any of our Nxt Gen Scholars are tempted to ask any of our board members what the roaring twenties were like in the music business, be warned that we may not take kindly to that line of enquiry.

Pre World War II saw growth in the use of recorded music for sound films and radio and, by 1956, the Copyright Act had affirmed the mechanical rights underlying licences for broadcasters such as the BBC and the newly launched ITV, or channel 3. Broadcast licensing later propelled MCPS collections to new heights during the post war entertainment boom. By the end of 1977, broadcast income collected by MCPS had reached almost £1 million, marking an important milestone just ahead of the explosion in independent local radio stations.

It was in 1976 that the MCPS of today truly started to take form. In February of that year, the rumour mill at Midem was alive and kicking when Dick James (the then President of the Music Publishers Association) hinted strongly that the MPA would be taking over the MCPS, calling it “one of the most exciting times in the UK music industry in years”, and adding that “momentous happenings” were imminent. This turned out to be well-timed, because around the same time, there were whispers about early iterations of a suspicious piece of plastic called a ‘compact disc’, although at that stage the jury was still out on whether this new format would ever take off.

As so it was, at an Extraordinary General Meeting on 31 March 1976, that 107 publishing companies from AIR Music to Virgin Music voted in favour of the takeover, bringing the UK society in line with the US, where the Harry Fox Agency had been taken over by the NMPA.

This was a pivotal turning point in our history, with the union establishing MCPS as that rare animal, a publisher-led collection society, which is still true to this day.

Moving on, the later part of the 70s saw a continued focus on better serving the MCPS membership. In 1977, the organisation had been working hard on its systems, as a result, going a foot-shuffling 10 months without delivering a distribution to members. However, with somewhat of a theatrical flourish, the distributions were ready on the day of the1978 AGM, with cheques handed out to members at the doors of the meeting!

Monthly distributions were announced and continued for years, with interest payments also made on late distributions - the first time any collecting organisation had ever done so.

Fast forward a decade to 1988 and the next big milestone was the passing of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act, prompting the development of a revised Membership Agreement between MCPS and the publishers… which only took 48 drafts!

The 1980s also brought exciting new ways for MCPS to license music. The advent of the music video was one of these. Meanwhile, compact discs had been rebranded as ‘CDs’ and were starting to take off. We watched UK CD sales grow from 300,000 copies in 1983 to 29.2 million just five years later in 1988, overtaking LPs in 1989 and cassettes in 1992.

Back then, we were also licensing music in the emergent ring tones market and saw the proliferation of mechanical right usage in consumer novelties from greetings cards to toys, tooth-brushes and clothing - MCPS even licensed sound chips which were then sewn into socks, t-shirts and – believe it or not – knickers!

The success of CDs brought a golden age for MCPS. This was the peak of the physical reproduction era.

But nothing stays the same forever, least of all in this industry. A new digital age ushered in the launch of the MCPS-PRS Alliance in the late 90s, when our two organisations started to collaborate on a new joint licence for mechanical and performance rights. Together, we were among the first societies to distribute iTunes royalties to members, and one of the first collecting societies outside of the US to license YouTube, all while working with our friends in the industry to tackle online piracy. The Alliance was an ambitious joint venture that was ultimately dissolved in 2013, bringing with it a restructuring of the MCPS business model and the introduction of a new relationship with PRS based on a Service Level Agreement between the two companies.

Ever since, we have been working closely to provide efficient and streamlined services for licensing, collections and distributions for our memberships, contributing to MCPS’ successful journey of growth and increased returns to right holders and songwriters in recent years.

The MCPS operates under the strategic eye of a Board of experienced and creative publishers who help maintain a good balance between collective and direct licensing. MCPS management work in genuine partnership with its membership, always looking to maximise value for right holders, songwriters and composers.

Songs and songwriters
Amongst all the jargon, court cases and negotiations, it is easy to lose sight of the real power of copyright: to get people paid for the art they create. It is the principle that sustains the cultural ecosystem, protecting music from Bowie to Winehouse, and Marley to McCartney.

Our robust copyright framework here in the UK is the foundation on which so much of our wonderful country’s global renown and success is built. For instance, we remain one of only three net exporters of music around the world. It will only stay that way if we protect the rights of those who create music and make sure they are paid. This is a non-negotiable, and it is MCPS’ most fundamental mission.

As we adapt to the presence of AI in our industry, we will do all we can to empower human creativity over coding. It is our job at MCPS to ensure the real people who invest their time, talent and money into creating music are fairly paid. These efforts are as important now as they ever have been. MCPS has been so valuable over its first 100 years, but we cannot rest on our laurels.

Thanks
Just before finishing, I would like to say a few words of thanks.

To our songwriters and composers – thank you for entrusting us to administer your rights. We take our responsibility seriously and we are committed to maximising the value of your music and to working with our allies in the industry to amplify your voice on the issues that matter most to you.

To Paul Clements, CEO of the MPA and the MCPS – thank you for your outstanding leadership over the past five years. It is a pleasure working with someone who has a passion for publishing running through his veins. To the music publishing community – you have a true champion in Paul and we are lucky to have him. I’d also like to thank Paul’s predecessors, including Jane Dyball, an icon/goddess of our industry who did so much in steadying the foundations of MCPS for growth and stability. Jane, we thank you.

To the MCPS Board – thank you for your continued guidance, commitment and strategic direction which always seeks to serve the composers and songwriters we are so proud to represent.

To Steve Burton, COO of the MPA and MCPS, and to the MCPS senior management and wider team, all of whom balance the dual responsibility of working for the MPA and MCPS – thank you for your commitment and extreme diligence in all you do.

And, finally, thank you to all of you in this room with whom we do business, license music and respect and preserve the value of the mechanical right.

To celebrate our thanks and recognise those who have made a direct and significant contribution to the MCPS business, whether in the form of a long term Directorship, or senior executive service to the organisation, we today proudly launch our new MCPS Roll of Honour which will be playing on the screens throughout your first and second courses. The Roll of Honour will be built upon over the coming years to continue to recognise all those that have so significantly contributed to the important business we operate on behalf of composers, songwriters and publishers.

Conclusion
As a result of the efforts of everyone involved including these long serving individuals, the MCPS will sustain its important work as the guardian of reproduction rights in musical works. MCPS will not only continue to protect the livelihood of creators but help pave the way for a future where music and technology can flourish in a fair, responsible, ethical and balanced way.

Thank you and enjoy the evening.

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MCPS CEO, Paul Clements
Firstly, I want to thank all of you for coming – I know how much everyone in the music industry hates a free dinner, so your sacrifice is very much appreciated. It’s great to see so many friendly faces here to celebrate 100 years of MCPS. I am also conscious that we have timed this event alongside the Euros semi-final. I do apologise for that, although I admit, as a diehard Charlton fan, my own interest dipped when (scandalously) none of our players made the squad.

I feel very honoured to be at the helm of the MCPS at this stage in its history; the organisation was the launchpad for my career and the first job I had in the music business. I started in 1996 as a royalties administrator – and when my interviewers said ‘we get people paid for physical reproduction’, I was naturally slightly sceptical about what I was letting myself in for. I thought maybe the ‘sex, drugs and rock n roll’ bit I heard so much about in music really was true. Thankfully they went on to clarify that it was about the company’s activities in relation to music rights, and, well as you know, I have been involved in its operations ever since.

When I was offered the opportunity in 2018 to lead MCPS and build on the tremendous work of Jane Dyball who came before me, it was an easy decision to take. As Jackie did, I, too, would like to applaud Jane for all her efforts in recovering what was then a significant balance sheet deficit and reshaping the MCPS business in those times. I’m afraid I can’t quite match her dress sense nor her ebullient karaoke singing but I must thank her for her friendship and guidance over the years, long before I took the helm.

Recent MCPS achievements
This century has brought perhaps the most radical transformation the music business has ever seen. The arrival of that new little thing called the internet turned our traditional ways of selling and listening to and, most importantly, monetising music upside down. As an organisation that revolves around collecting royalties for the physical copying of music, it’s fair to say MCPS has always felt the full force of such revolutions.

Vinyl became reel-to-reel tape, 8 track, cassette, CD, MiniDisc, Digital Compact Cassette, SACD, DVD – oh yes, don’t ever say mechanical isn’t versatile! But as record revenues from CD sales started to give way in the noughties, we had to adapt to the new climate.

The process was long and it was tough, but I’m proud to say that in this past decade, we have emerged stronger than ever, seizing the potential of online licensing and taking advantage of new revenue generating opportunities which reward composers, writers and creators for the use of their music.

Earlier this year, we announced that our distributions in 2023 were our highest in over 15 years at £204 million. And, despite piracy, COVID and other more recent challenges, we have now distributed over £4 billion to publishers, songwriters and composers since the turn of the century.

To put it in perspective, that’s enough to invest in around 2 and a half billion packs of Maltesers, 16,000 new Ferraris, or 3 tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. I hope you are grateful that we didn’t go with any of those options – and I would like to clarify that the rumours that we tried to go with the third one and failed to get tickets are completely false.

Demonstrating the organisation’s evolution
As an agent or sometimes exclusive licensee for mechanical rights on behalf of our members, there is no guaranteed right for us to represent mechanicals. We earn that right, through listening and taking appropriate actions, while always doing our best for the 30,000 songwriters and composers and 7,000 publishers we represent. Sometimes rightsholders’ mechanicals are granted to us, sometimes their rights are taken out, none of this phases us, our job is to help ensure that the mechanical right is fairly respected and valued.

Almost 50 years ago, in 1976, MCPS had over 30 different sources of collections and received the details of approximately 500 new compositions each week, with just over one million song titles in its repertoire.

Fast forward to the present day and, in 2023, we interestingly counted a mere 5 additional sources of revenue, however, we now administer mechanical collections for 9.1 million works. I was so tempted to include a quiz tonight where you had to guess all of these revenue sources, but you’ll be pleased to hear this was vetoed by the rest of the team.

In 1976, we represented 12,000 members, with this growing to just over 16,000 in 1997. In 2023, we counted 37,000 members registered with the MCPS, with 9,000 of these joining in the last five years. This means that more publishers, composers and songwriters than ever before are benefitting from the rights we administer and the royalties we collect.

But we are not resting on our laurels. After all our successful work within the UK, over recent years MCPS has become an increasingly global-facing organisation. We now represent 700 publishers and 27,000 writers for international collections around the globe, and we will continue our work to seize this opportunity where creators have historically been underpaid by certain territories overseas.

A word of thanks
So, to a few words of thanks.

First off, to all the lawyers in the room. In Shakespeare’s King Henry VI, he had one of his characters shout “kill all the lawyers”. No way, we owe you; because, without you, many of us in this room would have no job. Thank you for your brilliance over the years at spinning out the process and arguments in language that most people don’t understand. I salute you – as the cliché goes, “there’s no hit without a writ!”

But seriously, on a night like this where we have all come together to celebrate, it’s important to give a word of thanks to those who support me and my team in the work we do.

Firstly, I would like to thank our outsource service provider PRS for Music who not only power our business day to day, but also serve to make the lives of our joint licensees and members easier through providing that one point of contact and service delivery. Andrea, Stevie, Julian – and all the PRS team. My profound thanks.

A huge thank you also to my Chair, Jackie Alway, who continues to be such a powerful voice for the publishing sector; and the MCPS Board whose guidance and leadership is invaluable to me as CEO. I genuinely believe the MCPS of today is as strong as it ever has been.

I give my warmest thanks to my MCPS team - Steve Burton, Calum Bryant, Emily Bevington, Gavin Burness, Hassan Akbar, Urszula Nowik, Margaret Lalor and Arabella Hoy for all their hard work. We manage to deliver incredible results with a very small headcount and this level of efficiency is only possible if everyone within that team is consistently fantastic at what they do.

When I was reading into the history of MCPS, I was struck by the fact that in 1976 it had 100 members of staff across four offices, primarily in Elgar House in Streatham. In Terri Anderson’s excellent book, Giving Music Its Due, I read about the working conditions they experienced – there was poor office accommodation with seven team members sharing one telephone where the flex cord stretched across the room, creating the risk of being garrotted by the phone wire at neck height; and then the banning of meetings of more than two people to tackle the “lack of clarity and purpose” and the “unprofitable use of time” in what was described as “endless meetings”!

I am relieved to say that we’ve moved on hugely from those days and I would like to thank my team for all they do – in my view, we offer a gold standard service to our members with everything we do underpinned by a passion for music, a creator first mentality and an inclusive and transparent approach.

I would like to thank all those who have made tonight possible. On your table, you should have received a specially curated vinyl record featuring a selection of generation defining and best-selling songs from each decade of MCPS’ 100 year history. I hope you enjoy it.

I would also like to thank the performers who will take to the stage throughout the evening – the hugely talented Mark De Lisser with his choral ensemble, triple Grammy award winning Toby Gad who will be bringing to life the ‘Story of a Song’ supported by an array of incredible vocal talent and the wonderful Voces8.

Finally, and most of all, I would like to thank our community of songwriters and composers. The wonderful German composer Schumann once said, “in order to compose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of”. But that is making light of one of the hardest and often loneliest tasks confronting creators. This really is a night of celebration and we hope you enjoy it and that, behind the black ties, the goodie bags and the bottles of fizz, we will all remember what is important – the creators without whom there simply is no business.

Standing up for creators
Through all my time in the music business, MCPS has been an invaluable source of representation for publishers, songwriters and composers, both to the rest of the industry and to Westminster. We exist not just to pay music creators royalties, but to ensure their interests are valued and prioritised by politicians and industry stakeholders alike. As Jackie said so eloquently in her speech, we know these efforts are more important now than ever before in the world of big tech and generative AI.

As we look to the future, we need you more than ever as we stand on the precipice of another transformative era in the world of music. We will continue to stand up, speak for and support creators and their rights. I truly hope that all of you in the room this evening will remain on that same journey with us.

I strongly suspect none of us will be around to celebrate our 200th anniversary. But, we will at least do our best while we can to take this momentum into our next hundred years.

Let’s make our second centenary even stronger than the first!

Thank you, and have a truly wonderful evening.