PRS For Music and PPL partner with Audoo to install listening devices

PRS For Music and PPL have partnered with music technology company Audoo to install listening boxes in retail locations.

Audoo Audio Meters will be added to businesses including cafés, bars, hair salons, restaurants, and more across Great Britain, aiming to identify the background music being played and reporting this usage back to PRS for Music and PPL.

The meters are designed to be GDPR-compliant and use smart plug-in technology to securely track and report the music being played in quasi-real-time, without capturing any non-music audio, whether that’s the weather report or private conversations.

Tim Arber, PRS for Music’s Director of Operational Improvement, said: “We are continually investing in new technologies and services to ensure we can pay out royalties more quickly and accurately, delivering the best possible service to members.

“We have been working with music recognition technology for many years and are excited to see how this collaboration with Audoo can support our ambition to pay out over £1 billion annually in the next few years. Helping businesses across the UK to report the music they play through smart data capture will be integral to reaching this milestone and maximising our members’ public performance royalties.”

Russell Chant, PPL’s Head of Distribution, said: “At PPL, we’re always working to ensure that performers, record labels and self-releasing artists are fairly and accurately paid for the music they create.

“This initiative with Audoo will complement our existing suite of advanced technological tools and public performance music usage data, offering us a further way to check that our distributions are as accurate as possible. We look forward to working with the Audoo team over the coming months.”

Ryan Edwards, Audoo’s founder and CEO, said: “This collaboration with PRS and PPL is a milestone in the evolution of the public performance royalty space, for creators, performers and rights holders, as well as licensees delivering an enhanced experience for customers through the joy of music played in public spaces.

“Audoo is a proud British business that has designed, developed and continues to manufacture all products in the UK, so it is particularly poignant to launch Audoo at home with global leaders PRS for Music and PPL following the successful impact in other territories.”