Moving On Up for the PM or can Things Only Get Better?
The Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party Liz Truss’ choice of ‘walk-out music’ has been widely reported in the media since her leader’s speech at Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham yesterday.
For those that missed it, Ms Truss walked out to the M People Song – ‘Moving On Up.’ The Manchester DJ Mike Pickering who founded the band said on Channel 4 news that he was shocked that the song had been used without his permission.
There was a time when leaders would come out to just the applause of the party faithful. In more recent times, the music the leaders walk out to has now become a key part of the conference itself. I can remember Tony Blair using the number 1 song from 1994 D Ream – Things Can Only Get Better as his theme for the 1997 general election and of course there was Theresa May who famously walked out (and danced to) Abba’s ‘Dancing Queen’ at Conservative Party Conference. Keir Starmer opted for ‘Hurricane’ by Max Appollo at Labour Party Conference last week.
The question is, can leaders and / or political parties play music to walk out to?
The starting point is that the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 says that music cannot be played in public without permission from the copyright holder. However, in this country there are two music licencing bodies. The Performing Rights Society (PRS) and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL).
The PRS collects royalties on behalf of composers and publishers when music is played in public such as in a bar, restaurant or in this case a conference hall and PPL collects royalties on behalf of performers and record companies.
Therefore, as long as venues and other premises have the Music Licence from PRS PPL to play music in public they are entitle to play ‘Moving On Up’ or other music.
Copyright exists in a musical work for 70 years and musicians, performers, publishers and record companies can register their works on the PRS and PPL websites.
Businesses who wish to play music should consult the PRS website for more details about how to obtain a licence.
