In September, ukactive and PPL reached an agreement to reform PPL’s Exercise tariff. David Stalker, CEO of ukactive, outlines the next steps

I t was announced in September 2012 that, after four years of negotiation, ukactive and PPL have reached an agreement to reform PPL’s Exercise tariff, which covers the use of PPL recorded music as an accompaniment to fitness classes.

What is PPL?
PPL is a not-for-profit organisation: the letters stand for Phonographic Performance Limited. Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, if recorded music is ‘played in public’ – ie played in any context other than a domestic one – every play of every recording requires the permission of the owner of the copyright in that recording, usually a record company. Record companies transfer their rights in recorded music to PPL, which issues licences to businesses for these recordings to be played in public, including the use of radio and TV.

Breakdown of the reforms
1) The sole responsibility for holding a valid PPL licence for group exercise classes in fitness centres will be with the operators of those facilities. Fitness instructors will only be required to hold a valid PPL licence for any classes that they hold in premises other than fitness facilities (for example, hired halls, offices).
2) The new tariff, Exercise To Music – which is due to be brought into effect on 1 May 2013 – will see PPL fees eventually rising to a broad level of parity with those of PRS for Music over a five-year period. The tariff fee will start at 95p per class, rising to £1.25 in May 2014, £1.50 in May 2015, £1.75 in May 2016 and £1.88 per class in 2017. Indexation will apply from May 2018 at the earliest.
3) As an operator, you need to have a valid licence by your official start date. Invoices can be generated and paid 28 days ahead of that point. Payment is mandatory within 28 days of your licence start date.

Things to bear in mind
Determine your start date:
• If, as an operator, you already hold central PPL licences on behalf of your instructors, your start date for the new tariff will begin on the renewal of those licences.
• If holding a licence is currently the responsibility of your instructors, and as an operator you do not hold any central licences on their behalf, your licence responsibility will begin from 1 May 2013.

Determine your class number:
• Refer to your schedules, timetables and records in order to establish the annual number of classes that you operate.
Take account of instructor licences:
• For each centre’s applicable licence start date for the first year of the tariff, you must take into account any classes still covered by an instructor’s ongoing licence, and any classes not covered in the interim between an instructor’s licence expiring and the centre’s licence starting. You’ll need to gather the in-house or freelance instructor licences already in place and record their end date. A calculator tool will provide you with an adjustment figure for your new licence invoice – http://tinyurl.com/atlcwya

Complete your return:
• To generate your invoice and secure the licence, you will need to go through the declaration process, which will be live on the ukactive website from 1 March 2013.
• You must list each of the sites for which you are responsible, and the number of classes likely to be held at that site over the course of the next year, and reference the outcome from your adjustment figure.

ukactive’s role
As a result of ukactive’s negotiations with PPL, existing licences – whether held by your instructors or as an operator – can be taken into account if they expire after the 1 May 2013 start date. We will be playing an active role in the collection of licence fees – the purpose of which is to be able to offer a discount to ukactive members of 10 per cent off the overall price of their annual licence.
We feel we’ve secured a positive outcome to negotiations, which could have proved far more costly to the fitness sector. But these reforms do represent significant changes, and we urge operators to ensure appropriate planning is underway within their organisations.