Songwriters see iTunes and Spotify royalties grow

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Royalty payments to songwriters from the likes of Spotify and iTunes grew 3.2% to £635.3m in 2011

Royalty payments to songwriters from the likes of Spotify and iTunes grew 3.2% to £635.3m in 2011.

Industry body PRS for Music, which represents 75,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in the UK, says a double-digit fall in CD royalties was more than offset by strong growth in revenue from digital services.

Online royalties jumped 45.3% last year, although the total remains relatively small at £38.5m. That compares with a fall of 13.3% to £101.6m in payments from CD sales.

Robert Ashcroft, PRS for Music's chief executive, says legal, royalty-paying digital music services are gaining ground in the battle against piracy.

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Andy Clough
Andy Clough

Andy is Global Brand Director of What Hi-Fi? and has been a technology journalist for 30 years. During that time he has covered everything from VHS and Betamax, MiniDisc and DCC to CDi, Laserdisc and 3D TV, and any number of other formats that have come and gone. He loves nothing better than a good old format war. Andy edited several hi-fi and home cinema magazines before relaunching whathifi.com in 2008 and helping turn it into the global success it is today. When not listening to music or watching TV, he spends far too much of his time reading about cars he can't afford to buy.