Music Venue Trust highlights discrepancies with grassroots venues' PRS licensing fees

Music Venue Trust (MVT) has launched a new campaign — Set The Record Straight: Fair Licensing Fees — aiming to highlight discrepancies in how PRS for Music licensing fees are calculated, applied and enforced across UK grassroots music venues.

Led by MVT’s rights management specialist Gareth Kelly, the campaign focuses on systemic issues in the way PRS-related charges are assessed, including the use of estimated data, incorrect capacity calculations and unclear liability between promoters and venues.

As part of the campaign, MVT will roll out a series of explanatory content, case studies and data-led insights designed to improve understanding of licensing practices, and highlight where reform is needed. MVT is also calling for greater transparency in fee calculation, improved data accuracy and a clearer framework around responsibility for licensing payments within the live music ecosystem.

MVT has clarified that the campaign is not meant to challenge the principle of PRS licensing itself, as fair licensing is “fundamental to ensuring songwriters and composers are paid when their work is performed.” However, the trust has argued that “inaccuracies in how those fees are calculated and enforced can create significant and unnecessary financial pressure within a sector already operating on tight margins.”

MVT has identified discrepancies across multiple regions, including over £56,000 in the North West, over £20,000 in the South West, close to £50,000 in London, over £80,000 in Wales and more than £75,000 in Scotland. These figures, according to MVT, reflect a broader pattern of billing based on estimated, rather than actual, usage, with charges in some cases linked to maximum theoretical capacity rather than actual attendance.

“PRS licensing should work for everybody - venues, promoters, artists and songwriters,” said Kelly. “The issue is not whether fees should be paid; they absolutely should. The issue is whether those fees are being calculated accurately, applied fairly and charged to the right party. What we’re seeing too often is a system that relies on assumptions rather than reality, and that can create serious financial consequences for grassroots venues.”

MVT has also emphasised liability concerns, particularly in cases in which grassroots venues are held responsible for PRS fees on promoter-led events. The organisation has argued that when promoters control ticket income and event delivery, responsibility for performance rights fees should be more clearly aligned.

The campaign has raised questions around enforcement practices; automated processes linked to disputed or inaccurate fee assessments have led to five grassroots venues receiving County Court judgements, with over 50 venues facing legal threats — according to MVT.

“Licensing systems are complex, and too often they operate in a space that people don’t fully understand,” said Mark Davyd, CEO of MVT. “That lack of clarity makes it harder to challenge inaccuracies and easier for problems to persist. This campaign is about bringing transparency into that space and making sure the system works as it should; fairly, accurately and in a way that reflects how grassroots music actually operates.”