The latest filings of Phonographic Performance Ltd. (PPL) with the Registrar of Companies, has revealed the annual revenues of the copyright society to be at a healthy Rs. 229.95 crores (US $ 45 million) for the financial year 2010-2011. In comparison, the revenues for the previous financial year were at Rs. 203.40 crores.
(Image from here)
The break-up of the annual revenues for 2010-11 is as follows:
(i) Broadcasting: Rs. 31 crores;
(ii) Public Performance: Rs. 31.64 crores;
(iii) Mobile Ringtones/Digital Streaming: Rs. 165.18 crores;
As usual the biggest growth has been registered in the mobile ring-tones & digital streaming segment. The revenues in this segment for the last financial year were in the neighbour-hood of Rs. 137.8 crores. Unlike PPL’s earlier annual reports, for example 2008-9 (available over here), which clearly mentions that PPL is collecting mobile ringtone royalties on behalf of IPRS, the present annual report is completely silent on this crucial fact. Earlier on this blog, we had pointed out how IPRS had itself contradicted this claim when it informed the Registrar of Copyright that it had not authorized PPL to collect revenues on its behalf.
The mystery over the royalty sharing agreement between PPL & IPRS continues to be a mystery. I for one am extremely curious to know the exact nature of royalty distribution between members of PPL. Is the Board of PPL cornering a fair share of royalties for itself?
