Statement from Mark

Many of you will know me as the keyboard player for Marillion, a band that I have been part of since 1981. Throughout this time I have also been heavily involved in Marillion’s artist-to-fan model of selling recordings – a model that some have called ‘ground breaking’.

I am very concerned that featured performers receive fair remuneration when their recordings are made available to the public. I also see the internet more as an opportunity for performers rather than a threat to their copyrights. That said, we need to put in place a regulatory framework which is consumer friendly, but at the same time ensures an income stream to the performers, studio producers and record companies who together provide recordings to the public.

In regard to PPL I aim to vigorously defend the rights of performers and ensure that they get their fair share of PPL income.

I am unhappy that PPL collect broadcast and public performance income on behalf of non-qualifying performers and pay the performers share of such income to the record companies. This money (mainly generated by US performers who are regarded as non-qualifying) should go to some kind of performer fund for the benefit of UK performers rather than to the record companies.

I fully support the legislation that is currently going through Congress in USA which will, for the first time, provide public performance revenue from terrestrial radio. This new revenue stream will mean that US performers will finally get paid and that UK performers will enjoy a new income stream when their recordings are played on US terrestrial radio.

My concerns also extend to the fact that the PPL Board has more record company members than performer members. As an organisation that deals with a right that provides ‘equitable remuneration’, PPL’s board should be one that reflects the nature of this right – i.e. a board structure of equal numbers of performer and record company representatives.

I am also concerned that the obligation to provide performer line-up information for each track is the responsibility of record companies rather than the performers on the track. Some record companies do a poor job at providing accurate performer information in a timely manner. This has a negative impact on performers’ remuneration and is a practice that must be minimised. I understand that PPL are addressing this issue but there need to be penalties for record companies who perform poorly in this area.

I see PPL as a well managed collecting society that has made significant progress in recent years. No doubt there is much more work to do. I was very disappointed with the recent Copyright Tribunal judgement that refused PPL the right to charge similar licensing fees as PRS when music is played in such places as pubs, clubs, shops and factories. PPL has my full support in their appeal of this decision.

In closing, I sincerely hope that I will be elected as a Featured Artists performer representative. I look forward to the prospect of serving the performer community.

Many thanks,

Mark Kelly

About Mark:

Mark Kelly is the keyboardist of the band, Marillion. He joined the band in 1981, Kelly has appeared on every Marillion studio and live album with sales totaling over 10 million units.

He also appeared on John Wesley's album Under the Red and White Sky in 1994 and on Jump's album Myth of Independence in 1995 on production and keyboards. He has also played keyboards with Travis for their headlining set at the Isle of Wight Festival (10-12 June, 2005) and at the Live8 set in Edinburgh (6 July, 2005).