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PRS for Music for producers and composers

PRS for Music is the UK society that collects performance royalties for songwriters, composers and publishers. You can join from anywhere in the world. Here is how it works for a library or stock composer, as of October 2026.

By , a composer with 300+ tracks on audio stock and 12 years in production. Checked on PRS for Music's own pages on 26 October 2026.

Type
Rights society
How to join
Join as a memberOne-off £100 for writers, £30 under 25
AI-made music
With limitsAI-assisted works only, AI-generated ones are refused

In short. PRS for Music collects royalties when your music is broadcast, streamed or performed in public. Writers pay a one-off £100 to join, or £30 under 25, and can join from anywhere. MCPS, for copies of your music, is a separate membership. PRS registers AI-assisted works but not AI-generated ones, and prompts alone do not count as writing. Register every alternative title a track has.

How to join

  • Fee. "Writers can get a lifetime membership to PRS for a one-off fee of £100." Under 25, it is £30.
  • From anywhere. PRS says you can "Join PRS from anywhere in the world".
  • What you need. A credit or debit card, and a valid passport or photocard driving licence. PRS may ask for other documents.
  • When. PRS suggests joining when you are likely to earn more than £100 in royalties in a year.
  • Start date. Apply between 1 January and 30 June, and membership starts on 1 January. Apply between 1 July and 31 December, and it starts on 1 July.

PRS or MCPS. PRS collects for performance: streams, downloads, TV, radio, live and public play, and music in film. MCPS collects for copies, such as CDs and vinyl, and music in multimedia. MCPS is a separate one-off fee of £100. You can join it at the same time as PRS.

Exclusive or not

There is one rule to know. "By joining PRS for Music, you exclusively assign your performing right to PRS." PRS also forbids passing that right to an AI company without its consent.

AI-generated music

PRS has a written policy from its Members' Council.

  • AI-generated works are refused. Works "with no human author or with insufficient human contribution" are not protected under UK law. "Members are therefore not permitted to register AI Generated Works with PRS."
  • AI-assisted works are allowed, when AI was "only an assistive tool in the human-led composition process".
  • Prompts are not enough. "Generating a piece of music using prompts alone will not be considered by PRS to be sufficiently original to be registered." Small edits to an AI piece are "highly unlikely" to make you the author.
  • What passes. Your own melody with AI instrumentation "may satisfy the originality test". Your melody, lyrics and arrangement with AI mixing or mastering is "highly likely" to pass.
  • How to register. AI-assisted works are registered like any other, with no need to tell PRS. A work with one AI-generated part, music or lyrics, must declare that part as "AI". When checked on 26 October 2026, PRS said such works can't be registered yet, while it updates its tool.
  • Penalties apply to knowingly false registrations.

Codes, Content ID and royalties

Registering a work. You use Register My Music. "At a minimum, you'll need the song title, any alternative titles and the duration." If you have no publisher, register works "as soon as they're written". They don't need to be recorded or released. If you register for co-writers, have each one's agreed share and CAE/IPI number ready. PRS asks you to include ISRCs where you can.

Checking works. The works search shows each work's owners, creators, rightsholders, tunecodes and duration. To fix a work you hold rights in, open it and choose "Register an Amendment". The member dashboard also has a page to search cue sheets.

Codes explained: ISRC, ISWC and UPC.

How you are paid

  • Main distributions come four times a year: April, July, October and December.
  • Monthly for online streaming services and for major live concerts. MCPS also pays monthly.
  • Minimum. £30 for UK members and £60 for international members. In October the minimum drops to £1 for everyone.
  • Lag. PRS's example: music on TV in January is reported in April and usually paid in July.

What to keep in your catalog

  • The tunecode PRS gives each work.
  • Every alternative title of a track, registered on the same work. Library retitles count.
  • Shares and co-writers' CAE/IPI numbers, as registered.
  • AI use for each work, and whether any part had to be declared as "AI".
  • Whether the work is also with MCPS.

Sources