Crispin Hunt and Mark Kelly have been elected by performers to both the main PPL Board and also the company’s Performer Board as Performer Directors.
The election result was announced at PPL’s ninth Annual Performer Meeting (APM) which took place today at Rich Mix, London.
This year’s APM also marked the last meeting for Fran Nevrkla OBE, PPL Chairman, who will step down at the end of the year.
In total, three candidates stood in the Performer Director election. Crispin Hunt and Mark Kelly (as existing Performer Directors) were standing for re-election.
Performers were invited to put forward additional candidates, and Jon Webster was the other candidate nominated.
All three candidates provided a written election statement prior to the meeting which can be viewed on PPL’s website.
The meeting also saw the presentation of the annual performer report, including key financial highlights from 2014. PPL achieved a record £161m of distributable revenue in 2014, a 6% increase on the previous year.
Public Performance revenue became the largest of PPL’s three main revenue streams for the first time, growing by 10% in 2014 to £76.7 million (an increase of 53% in the last 5 years). Broadcast and Online revenue grew by 1% to £74 million and International revenue grew by 6% to £36.4 million.
Keynote speeches were delivered by Director of Performer Affairs, Keith Harris; Performer Board Chairman, Gerald Newson; and PPL’s Chief Executive Officer, Peter Leathem. Peter thanked both the PPL Performer Board and main Board for their continued insight, support and governance.
Tributes were paid to Fran Nevrkla OBE and Keith Harris OBE (who will take up a consultancy role at PPL in the New Year), thanking them both for the exceptional contributions they have made to PPL, the performer community and the music industry as a whole. John Smith (General Secretary of the Musicians’ Union and President of the International Federation of Musicians) was also given a warm welcome as the new Chairman of PPL, a part-time position he will be taking up in January 2016.
A ‘Q and A’ session then followed, inviting PPL members to openly express their views and queries to the presentation panel.
Following the meeting Crispin Hunt said: “It is a privilege to be re-elected as a Performer Director. I will continue to do my utmost to represent the interests of PPL’s performer members.”
Mark Kelly also commented: “Thank you to the performer community for re-electing me to represent your interests at PPL. I look forward to working closely with my fellow Performer Directors and PPL to achieve the best for performers in the next two years.”
Peter Leathem, CEO, said: “I’d like to offer my congratulations to Crispin and Mark on their election as Performer Directors. Over the years, both of them have demonstrated a deep commitment to the performer community. I very much look forward to working with them again in this capacity and wish them every success in the role.”Music Business Worldwide