Dear PCAM Member,
This is the latest in a series of Newsletters that we publish five times a year, following meetings of the PCAM Committee. Each Newsletter contains a brief report from the recent Committee meeting, plus other current news and views and an edited version of a recent query to the PCAM Helpdesk.
We would like to receive more contributions to the Newsletter from PCAM members. If you want to write something for inclusion or send us a link to something interesting you have read or seen, please contact PCAM Administrator Bob Fromer on: bob.fromer@outlook.com.
Best regards,
The PCAM Committee
CONTENTS
— Message from the Chair
— PCAM Summer Social
— Media Music Outreach Programme: Latest Session
— PCAM Autumn Seminar
— Feature Story: The PRS Answers PCAM Questions on Writer’s Share
— Recording Starts for 2025 PCAM Podcast Series
— Update on the PRS and AI
— Reminder: PCAM Membership Fees to Rise in 2026
— PCAM Q&As Volume 5 Now Available
— Notes from the PCAM Committee Meeting: 1 July 2025
— Music Industry Assistant
— Remaining PCAM Committee Meeting Dates in 2025
— Case Study from the PCAM Helpdesk
— PCAM Social Media
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
Dear PCAM Members,
Over recent months, we’ve made significant progress in helping members protect something fundamental to your livelihood – your writer’s share. Many of you submitted questions to us on this issue, which we forwarded to PRS, and I want to thank you for your engagement – it’s your input that drives this work forward.
PRS has been supportive, providing clear answers and guidance (see feature article below). Our relationship with them continues to go from strength to strength.
From these discussions, we’ve created practical copy-and-paste template wording (also below) that you can use when a commissioner asks for your writer’s share – an essential tool to help you defend your rights with confidence.
In this edition, you’ll also find updates on our ongoing and highly successful Media Music Outreach Programme with PRS and Lewisham Music, and we’re delighted to announce the start to a brand-new season of PCAM podcasts, following the strong impact of the last series.
On the AI front, committee member Simon Surtees has been representing PCAM with the PRS and government stakeholders, ensuring the voice of professional media composers is firmly heard in critical debates about our future.
Looking ahead, we’ve uncovered a potentially game-changing PRS publishing reversion rule that could allow composers to receive the publisher’s share when a publisher fails to register your work. You’ll find more on this below – it’s well worth reading – and we’ll be investigating further to give you clear advice as soon as possible.
Following the huge success of our mentorship programme, we’ll soon be making a call for new mentors. If you’re in a position to guide the next generation of composers, we’d love to hear from you.
And finally – don’t forget to tell your colleagues and peers about PCAM. Your continued support is not only hugely appreciated, it is vital for the health of our industry.
Best regards,
Paul Reynolds, PCAM Chair
PCAM SUMMER SOCIAL
A night of connection, creativity and community
On Tuesday 1 July, PCAM hosted our Summer Social at The Refinery in Regent’s Place – and what a night it was!
The evening was buzzing with energy as composers, producers, and creatives from across the music for media and advertising industries came together to connect, share stories, and build community. It was fantastic to see industry legends deep in conversation with emerging talent, swapping career advice, insights, and some truly hilarious anecdotes from their career journeys.
We were especially thrilled to welcome members of the Alliance for Women Film Composers, many of whom are carving out brilliant paths in the advertising music world.
A huge thank you to everyone who came along – from longstanding supporters to potential new members — and to those who continue to champion PCAM’s work, helping us to protect the rights, working conditions, and value of professional music creators. Your support really does keep our mission alive.
Here’s to more moments of connection, inspiration, and creativity.
Media Music Outreach Programme: Latest Session
PCAM Committee Member Becky Wixon writes:
The latest Media Music Outreach Session at PRS, run in conjunction with PCAM and Lewisham Music, brought together around 60 curious, engaged, and diverse budding composers eager to learn about the world of production music.
Bethan Smith (No Sheet Music) kicked things off with insights into what publishers seek and how artists can get involved. Tom Ford followed with his inspiring composer journey and practical advice for breaking in.
I was proud to join the Q&A panel alongside Alex Gray (Cavendish) and the other speakers for my fourth Music for Media session. Even a fire alarm mid-event couldn’t dampen the energy!
With Crispin Hunt, President of PRS, adding valuable perspective, we fielded a wave of questions – especially on PCAM and industry pathways. The night wrapped with vibrant networking and a room full of new connections.
PCAM AUTUMN SEMINAR
PCAM will be staging another Seminar this autumn, probably in late October, in conjunction with the PRS. The Seminar will focus on two areas: a “Back to Basics” review of music administration (copyright, contracts, publishing, financial and legal issues, etc), and “How to Diversify Your Practice”, to encourage composers to sustain their incomes by working in different areas of applied music.
Apart from inviting our own members to the Seminar, we will publicise it to participants in the current PRS Outreach Project and to SCOREcast members. Watch for an announcement soon about the date and venue.
FEATURE STORY: THE PRS ANSWERS PCAM’S QUESTIONS ON WRITER’S SHARE
Late last year, at the invitation of the PRS, PCAM submitted a series of members’ questions on current commissioning terms in the industry, and particularly on the increasing demand from clients or Agencies for the “writer’s share”. Below are the questions and the PRS replies.
Question 1: I’ve recently been asked for a ‘buyout’ of all rights, including my writer’s share. As a PRS member, how should I respond? My understanding is that it isn’t possible for me to provide this — is that correct?
PRS Answer: The PRS writer share is the share of net fees allocated by PRS for distribution to a PRS writer member, according to the PRS Rules and Regulations and PRS’s distribution policy from time to time.
The right to receive distributions from PRS of the PRS writer share is a contractual right of the PRS writer member. This right is part of a member’s membership agreement with PRS.
Writer members can (subject to certain legal and contractual requirements):
- Instruct PRS in writing to pay their personal PRS writer share distributions to a third party; and/or
- Transfer or sell their personal PRS writer share to another person by way of assignment.
PRS’s Writer Share Assignment Policy (accessible at the following link — https://www.prsformusic.com/works/writer-share-assignmentpolicy — sets out the conditions under which PRS will recognise and give effect to dealings by a writer member with their personal PRS writer share.
We strongly encourage writer members to obtain independent legal advice before entering into any arrangement involving their PRS writer share, and writer members can direct their legal advisers to PRS’s Writer Share Assignment Policy and FAQs available on our website.
Question 2: As a PRS member, is it illegal for me to give up my writer’s share?
PRS Answer: As set out in the response to Question 1, there are circumstances where our Rules permit writer members to transfer or sell their personal PRS writer share to another person by way of assignment and/or instruct PRS to pay their personal writer share to a third party. However, writer members should review PRS’s Writer Share Assignment Policy to understand when this is or is not permitted.
Writer members should be aware that “work-specific” notices and assignments are prohibited under our Rules. However, this prohibition may be waived if certain conditions are met (as set out in PRS’s Writer Share Assignment Policy).
Question 3: On a recent sonic branding commission, a music agency insisted they should own the writer’s share, claiming that “things work differently in sonic branding.” Is this true, and are there any circumstances in which an agency can legitimately demand this?
PRS Answer: Assuming that the sonic branding is an original musical work capable of copyright protection under UK copyright law, then this should be notified to PRS in accordance with our usual works notification process. In respect of the distributions then allocated by PRS to the notified writer of such musical work, the response set out in Question 1 applies. There is no change to how PRS’s Writer Share Assignment Policy applies in these circumstances.
TEMPLATE LETTER ON WRITER’S SHARE
PCAM Chair Paul Reynolds has drafted a template letter below which could be used, with relevant adaptations, to respond to client or Agency demands to acquire your writer share.
But please note that this is not legal advice, and the best thing to do if you are in this situation is to consult your lawyer.
Dear [Commissioner’s Name],
Thank you for sending through the commissioning agreement for [Project Name].
I note the request to assign my PRS writer share (my performing right).
As a UK-based composer and member of PRS, I’m unable to assign or license the performing right in my works directly, nor can I waive my entitlement to the writer’s share of performing rights income. Under PRS membership rules, the performing right is automatically assigned to PRS, who license it collectively on behalf of all members for uses such as broadcasts, streaming, live performance, and public play. This means only PRS can grant licences for that right.
The writer’s share of performing rights royalties is always paid directly to the composer by PRS and cannot be redirected, assigned, or waived, regardless of any agreements with commissioners. This is to ensure that creators are always fairly compensated when their music is publicly performed or broadcast.
To give you full commercial flexibility while respecting PRS policy, I am happy to grant you an exclusive licence for the music while retaining my PRS writer share. This is standard industry practice and ensures you have all usage rights you require while I retain my entitlement to performance royalties.
Please confirm we can proceed on this basis.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
PRS for Music Writer Member
RECORDING STARTS FOR 2025 PCAM PODCAST SERIES
A third series of PCAM podcasts is due to be completed this year, and the first four podcasts, to be recorded by Zoom using Riverside podcast creation software, will be recorded during the summer and released in the autumn.
The first of these podcasts, Building a Music Department, was recorded on 16 July and moderated by PCAM Committee member Blair Mowat. The other three podcasts to be recorded during the summer and early autumn are:
- AI: Realities, Threats and Opportunities (Moderator: Chris Smith)
- It’s a Hard Knock Life: Operating in a Challenging Marketplace (Moderator: Chris Smith)
- Wellness in the Applied Music Industry (Moderator: Paul Reynolds)
Some excellent contributors from outside the PCAM Committee have been lined up to take part in all these sessions. A further two topics, to be recorded in the autumn, will be chosen from four possibilities:
- Music for Gaming
- Music Tech Evolution
- Getting to Know Your Client
- Increasing and Maintaining Diversity in the Industry
The hope is that some of these podcasts may help in letting people know – including potential new members – that PCAM is not just for creators of advertising music, and that we can help enhance the careers of members working in other formats of applied music.
The podcast on Building a Music Department, which is essentially for creators of long-form music, will be promoted with this in mind.
UPDATE ON THE PRS AND AI
On 17 June, Simon Surtees from the PCAM Committee met with Meg Harding from PRS and media composer Thomas Hewitt-Jones to get an update on what the PRS is doing to address issues around music and AI. Here is Simon’s report:
PRS meets regularly (pretty much every week) with Parliamentarians, officials, and advisers from the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) and the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) to share expertise, debunk arguments put forward by the tech sector, keep abreast of developments, and represent the interests of PRS members.
PRS also meets Government IP attachés fairly regularly, who work all over the globe promoting and protecting UK IP interests.
Julia Rowan from PRS had a constructive meeting with Peter Kyle (DSIT Secretary) and Bjorn Ulveaus from ABBA last month, where Bjorn actually said that AI can be truly great to use as a song-writer(!), though that didn’t mean that creators’ rights shouldn’t be respected and not watered down.
I expressed consternation at this and strongly advised against any high-profile musician divulging that they use AI in any way to write their music, as it doesn’t help our argument at all. We need to give this message to our members and beyond!
Also at this Government meeting, PRS called for transparency and respect for copyright along the AI supply chain so that licensing deals and creator remuneration can ensue.
The Government does now seem to recognise the strength of feeling from the creative sector and to realise that their proposed approach in the consultation is not acceptable to creators. Everyone in Government agrees that they don’t want to see the ruin of the creative arts industries.
However, there is still lots to do, as Peter Kyle (DSIT Secretary) is currently not very receptive, and fundamentally believes that copyright is not fit for purpose in the digital age. But … there may soon be a Cabinet reshuffle, and in the meantime PRS continues to lobby to improve his understanding of the issues.
The Prime Minister, on the other hand, does appreciate the arts and can see their value.
The Creative Rights In AI Alliance Coalition (CRAIC) meets weekly to discuss common issues and PRS is very active in this group. CRAIC is run by journalists and includes 70 groups from the creative arts industries. The group seems very receptive to PRS input.
It was CRAIC that coordinated the ‘Write To Your MP’ campaign that people may have seen recently. They’ve now had 32,000 emails sent, with an average of 49 per MP and 100% of MPs emailed.
This has been a huge success for engaging MPs: PRS has heard many accounts of MPs organising roundtables with constituents to discuss AI and copyright and speaking out in Parliament as a direct result of constituents getting in touch (as was manifest in April’s James Frith MP Parliamentary debate — the best attended debate on any issue in a long while).
I suggested that we all form some kind of AI Music Steering Group with PRS, PCAM, and whoever, taking advantage of various members’/groups’ expertise. Meg Harding will take this back to PRS and let us know if there’s an appetite for it and value seen in it.
Government has said that a full Impact Assessment will be undertaken in relation to the results of the Copyright / AI Consultation – probably in the early autumn. There will then be Government focus groups that PRS will attend. I asked if PCAM could attend — we’ll see!
The Government wants to get it right with regard to copyright, which still stands — so for now, it’s illegal for AI firms to scrape copyright-protected works.
PRS will also consider how best they can disseminate information to members and keep us updated.
REMINDER: PCAM MEMBERSHIP FEES TO RISE IN 2026
We want to keep reminding PCAM members – so no one will be caught by surprise next year! – that we are raising our membership fees in 2026 for the first time since 2015, to cope with rising costs and to help us do even more to support our members.
Annual membership fees in 2026 (still payable in two six-monthly instalments) will change as follows:
- Student fees will rise from £25 a year to £30
- Tier 1 fees will rise from £150 a year to £180
- Tier 2 fees will rise from £300 a year to £360
- Tier 3 fees will rise from £550 a year to £660
These higher membership fees should bring in between £4,000 and £5,000 in additional annual income, which will put us back in the black for our day-to-day operations.
PCAM Q&As VOLUME 5 NOW AVAILABLE
Over the past few years, an edited selection of questions sent to the PCAM Helpdesk, and the answers provided by PCAM Committee member Tony Satchell, who runs the Helpdesk, have been published annually on the PCAM website.
A new selection of Helpdesk Q&As from 2024 and early 2025, called Helpdesk Volume 5, is now available on the website here — https://www.pcam.co.uk/pcam-helpdesk-faqs – and you can also find Volumes 1-4 on this page.
Because our members often run into similar kinds of problems, and ask the Helpdesk similar kinds of questions, perusing these questions and answers can often be helpful, especially for newer members.
NOTES FROM THE PCAM COMMITTEE MEETING: 1 JULY 2025
The PCAM Committee’s most recent get-together was an in-person meeting on 1 July at the Old Diorama Arts Centre just north of Warren Street.
Those present were Paul Reynolds (Chair), Chris Smith, Tony Satchell, Simon Elms, Simon Surtees, Greg Owens, Bankey Ojo, Becky Wixon, and Bob Fromer.
Apologies were received from Michelle Murchan, Karina Byrne, Blair Mowat, and Amelia Vernede, while former PCAM Committee member Christo Patricios attended as a guest.
Some of the discussions and decisions from the meeting – those that aren’t already covered earlier in this Newsletter — are below:
Update on PCAM participation in ongoing PRS Media Music Outreach Project.
As reported above, the latest session in the PRS Media Music Outreach Project, carried out with PCAM and Lewisham Music, took place in July, and PCAM Committee member Becky Wixon took part.
The workshops are aimed at black music creators and creators from other groups under-represented in the industry, and PCAM Committee members are among the speakers at these sessions. Further sessions will cover topics such as Writing for Film, Writing for Sync, Writing for Broadcasting, Writing Trailer Music, etc.
Update on Mentoring Project.
Becky Wixon told the Committee that, halfway through the PCAM/Balance the Mix mentoring project, feedback has been excellent from both mentees and mentors, and some mentees have already been helped to get jobs or briefs.
Ten mentees (out of 100 applicants!) are currently being helped by an equivalent number of mentors, and the content of sessions has been very individualised, based on mentee need and mentor expertise.
We hope to run the project again in the same time frame next year, and after that will look at whether it might be feasible to run the project twice a year or create some kind of rolling programme.
One good sign is that a number of additional PCAM Committee members have volunteered to be mentors in future.
Meeting with the Ivors Academy.
It seems clear that leading figures at the Ivors Academy are keen to meet with PCAM to discuss issues of mutual interest, and a PCAM subcommittee met on 30 May to consider the key issues we would want to raise. They are:
- The impact of AI on the music industry.
- The need to align the goals of the Ivors Academy, PCAM, and UK Music, and establish regular consultation.
- The enforcement of Rule 2F(ii) regarding the secondary use of commissioned music required to justify the ‘publisher’s share’.
- Fair contracts.
- The PCAM Education Project.
The hope is that a PCAM-Ivors Academy meeting can be arranged in late summer.
MU/IPA deal on fees.
At the time of writing, the Musicians’ Union (MU) and the Institute of Practitioners of Advertising (IPA) are negotiating a new agreement on musicians’ fees, in which fees are expected to rise substantially.
PCAM was asked by the IPA for its view, and we replied that PCAM is caught in the middle on this: we want musicians to earn a decent wage, but composers are getting less for their work now than in the past, which means our members are likely to be squeezed by the new deal.
PRS Reversion Rule.
PCAM has discovered that the PRS may have a rule whereby, if a publisher does not register a work with PRS, and the work is due royalties, the composer could (after three years) receive the entire publisher’s share. In other words, when a work ends up sitting in Un-notified Works (Status 4) for more than three years, as long as the composer’s name is known, the full publisher’s share could be sent to the composer.
This suggests that it’s vital for composers to register their works with the PRS. While the PRS will normally rely on a publisher and/or an Agency/production company to notify them about composers, this often fails to happen. If the PRS does not have a composer’s name, a work remains un-notified and is distributed to other members/works after the three-year period providing it has not been registered by the publisher.
We are currently fact-checking this situation and will get more information to members as soon as possible.
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PCAM Committee meeting dates in 2025
Remaining PCAM Committee meetings in 2025 will be held on:
- Tuesday 9 September (remote)
- Tuesday 18 November (in person at the Old Diorama Arts Centre NW1)
Any PCAM member interested in attending any PCAM Committee meeting should contact PCAM Administrator Bob Fromer (bob.fromer@outlook.com).
PCAM HELPDESK Q&A
Below are two question-and-answer exchanges from the PCAM Helpdesk (the questions are in black type and the Helpdesk answers from Tony Satchell are in blue).
Q: I’m taking on an assistant to work with me on various projects this year and would like to protect my business and reputation by ensuring that information that the assistant will come in contact with and will need to process in the normal course of business is kept confidential.
I would like an NDA signed to formalise the commitment of the assistant to respect these sensitivities, but as I’ve not worked for another composer, or used an NDA for an assistant before, I don’t have a template. Is this something you can help with? Hope so.
A: PCAM has an approved NDA template, which our members can sign with a commissioning Advertising Agency or Production Company, which you can download from our website here — https://www.pcam.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Confidentiality-Agreement.doc — and which you can adapt for an employee.
Q: I have a question regarding quoting for a project which isn’t an advert, and I couldn’t see any info on this on the PCAM website.
It’s writing and mixing music for a two-minute animation for a news show in the US. It will be broadcast on TV only in the US and used online. They said airtime could be allocated to any time of day or night, so they can’t say if it will be primetime or not.
They have expressed the importance of having a license to use the music indefinitely, as they’ve said in the future there may be opportunity to allow other broadcasters to air it and want to be sure they have licenses for everything to do this. I know in adverts you’d give a one-year, two-year, or three-year license, but what about this sort of project where there isn’t a set run time? I guess it’ll be online indefinitely on YouTube.
Previously, they have used a subscription with Universal Production Music, so they are used to easily obtaining the rights they need, and, I would guess, fairly cheaply. But I realise that’s kind of irrelevant — bespoke is always going to be more expensive. They’re reaching further than they normally would on this animation, making a musical number, which is why they need bespoke music.
Should I be setting some license period, then put something in the contract saying that if they need to use it further we can come together to agree on another license?
Is it standard even to be charging a license fee for this kind of work (as opposed to advertising), or should it be more a work-for-hire outlook and accepting that the music can’t be used for anything else in the future?
I’m also assuming royalties will be low for this, so would factor this into my composition fee.
The important thing, it seems to me, is me knowing what is the norm, so I can give them a clearly defined, simple, and fair option.
Thanks for your time!
A: There is no real norm, so the norm is what you make it!
I would personally make a time limit, as clients will always want “in perpetuity” given half a chance.
I would see this as a film score and give them a straight sync licence, but I would be inclined to give them only a one-to-five-year (depending on the payment) worldwide licence for All Media with an escalating specified amount for each extra license period. I would also strictly tie the music use to that specified programme only, and make sure I retained 100% composition and 100% publishing rights.
I hope this helps!
PCAM SOCIAL MEDIA
For all the latest news on PCAM seminars and workshops, our new series of podcasts, plus industry-wide events and initiatives, be sure to follow PCAM on our socials.
Our two series of podcasts, including the series published in 2024, are now available on SoundCloud.