New PRS For Music CEO Ben McOwen Wilson unveils Soundtrack deal to improve accuracy of royalties

PRS For Music is taking a significant step toward refining the distribution of royalties to songwriters, composers, and publishers by integrating detailed music usage data from businesses across the United Kingdom. This initiative marks a new chapter in the organization’s efforts to ensure that the creators behind public performances of music are compensated with greater precision.

The partnership with Soundtrack, a leading provider of music streaming services tailored for commercial environments, introduces a wealth of granular data on music played in a variety of business settings. Soundtrack's platform covers approximately 7,000 UK locations, including high-profile brands such as Ole & Steen, Uniqlo, Dr Martens, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Kiehl’s, Joe & The Juice, TAG Heuer, and even the UK Parliament.

By accessing this comprehensive play-by-play data, PRS For Music can dramatically improve its understanding of which songs are performed in public spaces, moving beyond previously used proxy data or estimates. This shift towards actual usage data is expected to deliver more accurate royalty payments and reduce dependency on less precise methods.

Ben McOwen Wilson, CEO of PRS For Music, has emphasized the organization’s commitment to leveraging advanced technologies and partnerships to enhance the speed and accuracy of royalty distributions. The infusion of Soundtrack’s data will enable PRS to directly observe music use across a broad spectrum of commercial venues, allowing for a distribution model that better reflects real-world listening habits.

This collaboration highlights a broader industry trend toward data-driven royalty management, where digital solutions replace historical reliance on indirect sampling or manual reporting. The partnership underscores the importance of transparency and accountability in royalty payments, ensuring that creators receive fair compensation aligned with actual music consumption.

Soundtrack’s founder and CEO, Ola Sars, points out that prior to this model, many countries have relied on proxy data for public performance royalties, which often fails to capture the full scope of music usage. Soundtrack, with its extensive catalog of 150 million tracks and direct licensing relationships, bridges this gap by providing precise and timely insights into music consumption for business environments.

The integration of Soundtrack’s dataset into PRS For Music’s royalty calculation process is slated to begin by December 2026. This timeline allows for the necessary technical and operational adjustments to fully realize the benefits of the new data streams.

Through this alliance, PRS For Music aims not only to improve the accuracy of its current royalty payments but also to position itself at the forefront of innovation in rights management. The organization’s strategy encompasses ongoing exploration of emerging data sources and technologies to serve its members more effectively.

Ultimately, this development represents a crucial move toward aligning royalty distribution systems with the realities of modern music consumption within commercial settings. By harnessing real-time, detailed usage data, PRS For Music and Soundtrack are setting a precedent for transparency and fairness in the music rights ecosystem.