MUMBAI: Advent of digitization and internet has opened doors of humongous opportunities in the digital space. And now Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) has introduced PLUS – a digital portal that allows its executives to both issue licenses as well as gets quick payments online itself. This, therefore, has paved way for instance work procedures, which will accelerate licensing and payments faster than the earlier physical ways.
Commenting on the significant movement to an online licensing system, Mr. Rajat Kakar, President and CEO of PPL India said, “Perhaps one of the biggest barriers to people taking a license, aside from ignorance of the law, was the long and arduous process of applying for one. Earlier processes proved to be a major hindrance to customers, especially those where events were time sensitive. We’re optimistic about the fact that a fast, simple, licensing process in the form of PLUS will go a long way increasing the number of businesses that take PPL Licenses.”
“According to our most recent study, fewer than 5% of Indian businesses take public performance licenses for the music they play, and this is simply unacceptable. Public Performance is an invaluable source of revenue for the Music Industry, which is ploughing this back into creating music across the multitude of Indian languages. PLUS is a testament of our company’s drive to take world of music licensing into the digital age,” Kakar adds.
PPL India Chief Digital Officer Hari Nair comments, “In six months of implementation, PLUS has proven to be a versatile yet simple tool. We’ve already see strong measurable results in the form of reduced turn-around-time and positive customer feedback. Soon, we plan on expanding its functionality to allow prospective customers to create their own licenses i.e. a DIY (do it yourself) portal. This will further simplify the application process and essentially allow anyone in India with a smartphone or computer to apply for a PPL License with just the click of a button.”
Public performance royalties are nothing but money paid to music labels and music owners whenever their songs are played at public places. PPL ensures that public venues do get a license prior to playing music at their outlets.
