PRINCE CHARLES CELEBRATES 100 YEARS OF PRS

Prince Charles and Paul McCartney Prince Charles and Ray Davies Prince Charles and Laura Mvula

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall hosted a reception at Clarence House on Thursday 20 November to celebrate PRS for Music's centenary. The reception was attended by some of the UK's most successful songwriters and composers such as Sir Paul McCartney, Ray Davies, Brian May, Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Arnold, Lily Allen, Laura Mvula, Howard Goodall and Gary Kemp, along with publishers, key PRS for Music licensees and the PRS for Music senior management team.

The Performing Right Society, now PRS for Music, was founded on 6 March 1914 to protect copyright and provide an income for music creators and their publishers. Spurred on by the 1911 Copyright Act, renowned publishers William Boosey and Oliver Hawkes came together to license businesses that played music, passing the royalties onto songwriters and composers.

Fast forward a century and PRS for Music is still serving the same purpose: to help ensure its members receive fair payment whenever their music is played, performed or reproduced. Over the past 100 years, the society has gone from collecting £1,572 in year one, to £665.7m in 2013.

The UK has a proud tradition of creating wonderful music that is enjoyed the world over. Music contributes £3.8bn to the UK economy and the UK is one of only three net exporters of music in the world.

Guy Fletcher OBE, PRS Chair, said: "It was a true honour to see our centenary recognised by Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. We are so proud of what has been written, performed and accomplished in the last 100 years. This special Clarence House celebration recognised the contribution of PRS for Music's members to the cultural, social and economic fabric of the UK and the world."

www.prsformusic.com