About the client
Owned by the Music Publishers Association Group, our client, Printed Music Licensing Limited (PMLL) represents the rights of music publishers in the UK and issues licences on their behalf to permit the reproduction of printed music in the education sector, amateur choirs and theatres. They have over 130 active music publisher members, including Warner Chappell Music, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Publishing and others.
Business challenge
Expensive and error-prone manual data reporting
PMLL requires music licensees to report every printed sheet music which has been photocopied along with the number of copies made. PMLL then uses that data to calculate and make royalty payments to music publishers.
PMLL relied on a 3rd party organisation, the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA), for tracking sheet music usage at schools across the UK.
Teachers at school were instructed to keep a count of the photocopies they made of each work and this process was entirely manual. CLA representatives would visit the schools to collect this usage data periodically.
This manual process posed several critical issues:
- High inaccuracy risk in manual data collection, impacting music rights and revenue
- Time and resource-intensive physical photocopy counting, causing data processing delays
- Heavy workload on PMLL staff for data entry, cleansing, and management in outdated systems
- Excessive costs and limited control due to reliance on a third-party provider
The solution
Delivering an automated web-based licence management system
PMLL required a bespoke system to automate and bring the data reporting process in-house for improved accuracy, and greater cost-efficiency.
The system had to fulfil the following critical business requirements:
- Automated music usage tracking system for schools, choirs, universities, and music services.
- Integrated tools for PMLL to manage and cleanse large music data
- User-friendly interface for diverse PMLL licensees
- Publisher access to review data in PMLL's system
- Online license purchasing with customised usage terms
Delivering an automated web-based licence management system
System components
The system named PMLL Hub comprises three web-based portals for licensees, music publishers, and PMLL administration staff.
- Licensees can self-register and purchase or renew licence and report usage of print music using the licensees portal.
- Music publishers can review and request amendments to the data that’s reported by licensees via the publisher portal.
- The administrative portal allows PMLL to maintain a database of music works, licensees, publishers, and music usage data along with powerful integrated tools to administer large volumes of data.
System features and functionality
Licence purchase
- The system auto-calculates the bill based on the customers’ choice of licence plan and number of users.
- Integration with Xero (PMLL’s accounting software) for invoice generation and with Stripe for secure online payments.
- Users can view their past invoices and current licences within the system.
System features and functionality
Usage data submission
- Licensees enter information by looking up the integrated database of music works. This ensures all important attributes of the music such as:
- name of publication
- ISBN
- songwriter
- print publisher
- music publisher, are captured correctly and validated for accuracy.
- In the instance when the database does not contain the music work, the system allows manual entry of data. Which is then flagged for PMLL staff to validate, cleanse, and integrate into the database.
System features and functionality
Data reviews and amendment
- The system enables music publishers to review and request amendments to the data submitted by licensees.
- Each amendment request is reviewed and approved by PMLL via the admin portal.
- This layer of review helps catch inaccuracies in the data and leads to improved quality and cleansing of the music works database.
System features and functionality
Music works database management
- The system provides integrated tools to manage and cleanse the music works database in conjunction with reviewing data reported by licensees and amendments requested by publishers
- It also enables PMLL admin staff to keep adding to the database as new publications are coming out.
System features and functionality
Member database
- Stores all the profiles of music publishers that are signed up to the portal.
- Search functionality with search filters to look up a specific member by publisher name or other criteria.
- Admins can manage the details and generate reports for existing members.
System features and functionality
Reporting
- Admins can generate reports for usage data, signed-up users, and purchases made through the system.
- Data can be filtered based on licence types, time duration, and location of licensees.
The GoodCore team works in an incredibly efficient way, and their level of engagement is great. They’ve really worked to understand the business, listened, and asked questions when they haven’t been sure.
Viki Smith, General Manager at
Printed Music Licensing Limited
The impact
Accurate data leading to fairer distribution of licence fees
The implementation of the licence management system by GoodCore has had a profoundly positive impact on PMLL's operations:
Before
Manual and inaccurate reporting of music usage, prone to errors and delays.
Inaccurate and delayed distribution of licence fees to publishers due to imprecise data.
Reliance on spreadsheets and legacy tools for managing music works database.
Lower operational efficiency due to manual and time-consuming licence processing.
Reliance on a third-party agency (CLA) for data reporting, leading to external dependencies and extra costs.
After
Automated, accurate, and timely reporting by licensees, streamlining the process.
Fairer and timely distribution of licence fees to publishers based on precise music usage data.
Integrated and continuously improved music works database.
Automated licence management and faster turnaround in management.
In-house process for better control, improved accuracy, and reduced costs.
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