The Indian Singers’ and Musicians’ Rights Association (ISAMRA) (formerly known as ISRA) has signed a Bilateral Agreement with PPL UK to collect royalties on behalf of their Performer members in India and vice versa where PPL UK (being the organisation that licenses the use of recorded music for public performance and broadcast in the UK) will collect royalties on behalf of the ISAMRA Performer members in the territory of UK.
ISAMRA’s new partnership with PPL UK means that ISAMRA’s members will now start to receive royalties from PPL UK for the UK territory. Under the bilateral agreement, UK performers will now start receiving payments for the use of their recorded music in India through PPL UK
In 2023, PPL UK allocated revenue to over 450 performers for the use of their music resulting from the bilateral agreement, and this number is expected to increase substantially this year.
The deal follows the agreement in 2023 between ISAMRA (previously known as ISRA) and the Indian Music Industry (IMI), which represents more than 200 record labels in India. Under the terms of the agreement, ISAMRA will receive up to 25 per cent of public performance revenue from sound recordings collected by PPL India (which is unaffiliated with PPL UK), to be distributed to performers. In its most recent publicly available results (2022), PPL India collected Rs. 164 CR (approximately £15.5M) and forecasts robust growth in the coming years as the market develops a deeper understanding of music licensing requirements.
Sanjay Tandon, The Co-Founder and CEO of ISAMRA, has taken a seat on the Board of PPL India to further support the growth in PPL India’s collections.
The recent change to ISAMRA’s name reflects the fact that the organisation now represents and pays royalties to both musicians and vocalists, whereas in the past, it represented just the vocalist featured performers on a recording. These organisational changes, which have been backed by the Indian Government, have enabled PPL UK to reach an agreement with ISAMRA to collect royalties on behalf of UK performers for the use of their performances on recorded music in India.
Said Sanjay Tandon,
“In the true spirit of global cooperation and advancement of Performers Rights of both Indian and British Performers, I am happy to have this Bilateral Agreement in place. It’s a great achievement, and I look forward to strengthening the partnership between ISAMRA & PPL UK. Also It’s the start of a new journey as ISAMRA and PPL India will work together to increase revenue for performers, be it Indian or British.”
Laurence Oxenbury, Director of International at PPL, UK said: “This partnership with ISAMRA is an important moment for the rights of performers in India. The UK is a significant consumer of Indian repertoire, and money has already been paid from PPL in the UK to ISAMRA, benefiting hundreds of performers who did not historically have an entitlement to revenue. The performers we represent at PPL UK will start to receive new royalties for the use of their music in India during 2024. The agreement is another step on our journey to ensure that our members are paid whenever and wherever their music is used around the world.”
