PRS for Music

PRS for Music Limited (formerly The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited) is a UK copyright collection society and performance rights organisation undertaking collective rights management for musical works. PRS for Music was formed in 1997 as the MCPS-PRS Alliance, bringing together two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). The "PRS for Music" brand was adopted in 2009.

History

The Performing Right Society was founded in 1914 for collecting fees for live performance from sheet music. Initially it was distinct from the activity of the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society, originally founded in 1911, and renamed in 1924, and Phonographic Performance Limited, founded in 1934 by Decca and EMI, which collected fees for playing gramophone recordings.

The Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society began as MECOLICO, the Mechanical Copyright Licenses Co. in 1911 in anticipation of the Copyright Act of 1911, and merged with the Copyright Protection Society in 1924.

Music

Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound and silence. The common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and with vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping, and there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces and pieces that combine singing and instruments. The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike; "art of the Muses"). In its most general form, the activities describing music as an art form include the production of works of music (songs, tunes, symphonies, and so on), the criticism of music, the study of the history of music, and the aesthetic examination of music. Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "There is no noise, only sound."

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