Music licensing company PPL has introduced two business relationship executives (BREs) to the region - Kirsty Tavakoly and Tracey-Anne Baskerville - to raise awareness of the numerous benefits that playing recorded music can bring to London’s businesses.

PPL’s BREs will be attending numerous business and industry events in London in 2014, including the Business Growth Show (27 February) at West Ham football ground and the Business Show (15 May) at Excel representing the company’s 75,000 record company and performer members - many of whom are from or living in London - to help promote the value of music and the need for a licence, which in turn ensures that all those who invest their time and talent in making recorded music are paid fairly for their work.

Kirsty Tavakoly said: ‘It is a legal requirement for any business that plays recorded music in public, which is known as public performance, to have a PPL licence, which covers millions of different recordings. PPL distributes the licence fees it collects to its members, after the deduction of its costs, and does not retain a profit for its services.

‘Our work with businesses in London shows us that people really appreciate the role that recorded music plays at work, whether it’s customers in a shop or restaurant, staff in offices and factories, or callers waiting to speak to a call centre.

‘The results from a recent survey that we conducted in the retail sector on the benefits that music can bring to the workplace speak for themselves; 99% of staff said that retail stores that play music tend to be more modern and appealing places to shop, helping to give a brand a competitive advantage in the market place, while 96% said that playing music in store improves their mood. A resounding 83% went as far as to say that they would be demotivated if the music was turned off.’

Tracey-Anne Baskerville said: ‘As the government continues to acknowledge our world-leading music industry and its vital contribution to the UK’s growth and prosperity, and as performance rights continue to become a major income stream for musicians, there is a growing understanding of the value of music within the business community, which in turn helps us explain the role music licensing plays in supporting the wider creative economy.’

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