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Ben McOwen Wilson reposted thisBen McOwen Wilson reposted thisMAKE IT MUSIC SESSION SPOTLIGHT REDEFINING MUSIC RIGHTS IN THE AGE OF AI: OWNERSHIP, CONSENT, LICENSING AND COMPENSATION Wednesday, November 11 | 3:30 – 4:30pm Ownership. Consent. Licensing. Compensation. How do we build a system that values the creators whose work makes it all possible? Generative AI is creating new possibilities for music, but it's also raising fundamental questions about ownership, consent, attribution and compensation. At MAKE IT MUSIC 2026, experts from across music, technology and rights management will examine the models and infrastructure needed to build a more transparent and equitable AI-powered music industry. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/gA8hmnpH Margaret McGuffin // Sean Power // Caroline Jonnaert // Veronica Syrtash // Edward Ginis // FACTOR
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Ben McOwen Wilson shared thisAmazing job, Steph Pio! Huge congratulations on launching this and driving it through to completion! I know how many long, hard hours that took - your personal dedication to African developers has shone through! 🌍 👊 Though I am no longer in role to say it personally, massive congratulations to all of the teams at the selected studios! Having met so many of you earlier this year in Nairobi, I am thrilled to see this programme get across the line and I look forward to seeing your onward success from afar! 🚀 bmwBen McOwen Wilson shared this🌍 🎮 Google Play Indie Games Fund in Africa | Winners Announced! 🎮 🌍 Today we officially announced the 10 studios selected for the inaugural $1M Google Play Indie Games Fund in Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to some of the richest cultural storytelling and most vibrant developer ecosystems in the world. Yet for too long, lack of access to early-stage capital has held back exceptional local creators. We launched this $1M non-dilutive fund to help bridge that gap, pairing capital with hands-on 1:1 mentorship from Google Play specialists and technical support from Unity. The competition was intense with applicants from across Sub-Saharan Africa. After reviewing hundreds of extraordinary applications across the continent, we are proud to share the 10 finalists. A huge congratulations to all the winners! It's been an extraordinary amount of work but ultimately incredibly rewarding and an important initiative to champion the African Gaming Ecosystem. Special thank you to the brilliant Nicola Julius, Wabantu Hlophe, Daniel Trocoli and Thiago Amaral for their leadership, conviction and endless determination to successfully launch the fund. Read the full story and meet the studios here: https://lnkd.in/gYyQmhy6 More info on the winners here: https://lnkd.in/gA5ByHRy #IndieGamesFund #GooglePlay #AfricanGaming #GameDev #IndieDevIndie Games Fund in Africa: Meet the selected studiosIndie Games Fund in Africa: Meet the selected studios
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Ben McOwen Wilson reposted thisBen McOwen Wilson reposted thisLast week, our LGBTQ+ Culture Network hosted Pride Unplugged 2026 at our London hub, an evening dedicated to representation and live music. The intimate evening hosted by our chair Stevie Spring CBE featured wonderful acoustic sets from PRS member artists Eve Christina and ARXX, alongside standout acoustic performances from two of our own team members, Chloe Purser (Operational Risk Lead) and Harriet Perring (Recruitment & Contractor Coordinator). A massive thank you to everyone in the LGBTQ+ Culture Network who brought this event to life, and to every colleague who came together to listen, support, and celebrate. Creating spaces where creators and colleagues can bring their whole, authentic selves to work remains central to our culture and our mission to support music creators everywhere. #PRSforMusic #Pride #LifeAtPRS
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Ben McOwen Wilson reposted thisBen McOwen Wilson reposted thisPRS for Music has partnered with business music streaming service Soundtrack to bring play-by-play data on the music played in UK shops, bars, and public spaces into its royalty distributions. The UK collection society will receive data showing which tracks are played across around 7,000 premises that use Soundtrack’s platform. Ben McOwen Wilson, CEO of PRS for Music, said: “Our focus at PRS is simple: to pay our members as accurately and as quickly as we can.” Ola Sars, Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Soundtrack, added: “Soundtrack is the fastest-growing music-for-business provider in the world, and has direct licensing agreements with thousands of rights holders and a direct connection to the digital music value chain.” 🔗 Full Story: https://lnkd.in/dwr4C7d2 #musicindustry
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Ben McOwen Wilson reacted on thisBen McOwen Wilson reacted on thisPRS for Music and Soundtrack announce new partnership to improve distribution of public performance royalties to songwriters, composers and publishers. The new partnership with Soundtrack will provide the next generation of usage data, detailing what music is being played in shops, bars and public spaces. By partnering with the music streaming service for businesses, Soundtrack, PRS for Music will receive play-by-play data showing the exact music played across around 7,000 UK premises. Those businesses include Ole & Steen, Uniqlo, Dr. Martens, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Kiehl’s, Joe & The Juice, and TAG Heuer. The UK Parliament also takes advantage of Soundtrack’s platform. PRS for Music works with background music providers to incorporate play data from businesses into royalty distributions. The addition of Soundtrack data significantly improves the accuracy of collected usage data, and extends the number of businesses for which PRS for Music has direct information about the music being played. Ben McOwen Wilson, CEO of PRS for Music, said: “Our focus at PRS is simple: to pay our members as accurately and as quickly as we can. When songwriters’ and composers’ music is being used, we want the information that allows us to recognise that use and get the right royalties paid to them. “That means taking advantage of the best data and technology available. Where we can know what music has actually been played, and the technology is accurate and cost-effective, we should use it. We’ve been working with partners in this way for years, and our new partnership with Soundtrack gives us actual usage data from thousands more businesses across the UK. It’s another important step towards making our distributions reflect the music that people are really listening to. “And there is much more we can do. I want PRS to be market-leading in looking for better data, testing new technology, and working with partners across the industry to drive better outcomes for our members. Ultimately, it all comes back to the same goal: identifying music use more accurately, paying members more quickly, and making sure the value created by their music finds its way back to them.” Ola Sars, Founder, CEO & Chairman of Soundtrack, comments: “Soundtrack research shows that in most countries, public performance royalties are distributed based on proxy data and not actual usage, this partnership proves that there is a better solution available. We're closing the gap with consumer streaming and bringing the same digital accuracy and standards to the music-for-business market. Soundtrack is the fastest-growing music-for-business provider in the world, and has direct licensing agreements with thousands of rights holders and a direct connection to the digital music value chain. That enables us to give PRS unique and accurate, up-to-date usage and ownership data from Soundtrack’s extensive repertoire of 150 million songs.”
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Ben McOwen Wilson reposted thisBen McOwen Wilson reposted thisPRS for Music and Soundtrack announce new partnership to improve distribution of public performance royalties to songwriters, composers and publishers. The new partnership with Soundtrack will provide the next generation of usage data, detailing what music is being played in shops, bars and public spaces. By partnering with the music streaming service for businesses, Soundtrack, PRS for Music will receive play-by-play data showing the exact music played across around 7,000 UK premises. Those businesses include Ole & Steen, Uniqlo, Dr. Martens, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Kiehl’s, Joe & The Juice, and TAG Heuer. The UK Parliament also takes advantage of Soundtrack’s platform. PRS for Music works with background music providers to incorporate play data from businesses into royalty distributions. The addition of Soundtrack data significantly improves the accuracy of collected usage data, and extends the number of businesses for which PRS for Music has direct information about the music being played. Ben McOwen Wilson, CEO of PRS for Music, said: “Our focus at PRS is simple: to pay our members as accurately and as quickly as we can. When songwriters’ and composers’ music is being used, we want the information that allows us to recognise that use and get the right royalties paid to them. “That means taking advantage of the best data and technology available. Where we can know what music has actually been played, and the technology is accurate and cost-effective, we should use it. We’ve been working with partners in this way for years, and our new partnership with Soundtrack gives us actual usage data from thousands more businesses across the UK. It’s another important step towards making our distributions reflect the music that people are really listening to. “And there is much more we can do. I want PRS to be market-leading in looking for better data, testing new technology, and working with partners across the industry to drive better outcomes for our members. Ultimately, it all comes back to the same goal: identifying music use more accurately, paying members more quickly, and making sure the value created by their music finds its way back to them.” Ola Sars, Founder, CEO & Chairman of Soundtrack, comments: “Soundtrack research shows that in most countries, public performance royalties are distributed based on proxy data and not actual usage, this partnership proves that there is a better solution available. We're closing the gap with consumer streaming and bringing the same digital accuracy and standards to the music-for-business market. Soundtrack is the fastest-growing music-for-business provider in the world, and has direct licensing agreements with thousands of rights holders and a direct connection to the digital music value chain. That enables us to give PRS unique and accurate, up-to-date usage and ownership data from Soundtrack’s extensive repertoire of 150 million songs.”
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Ben McOwen Wilson shared thisDay 7 at PRS for Music, this Tuesday, saw an insightful evening at PRS Explores: The Changing AI Landscape. The concerns across our creator community are clear: the risk of AI-generated music displacing human creators, synthetic audio flooding streaming platforms unchecked, and creative works being used to train models without consent, credit, or fair remuneration. These risks are real and growing. Solving these challenges starts with a grounded, shared understanding of the AI landscape across our industry, which was the purpose of this PRS Explores. Thank you to Julia Rowan for moderating, Cherie Hu (Water & Music) for a stand-out bespoke presentation demystifying the music AI market and its evolution, and to Bryan M Johnson (Spotify) and Phil Gwyn (ElevenLabs) for stepping up and leaning into a candid panel discussion and Q&A with members - thank you all for your partnership! Most importantly, thank you to all the PRS for Music members who brought sharp, essential questions to the floor. In December, we'll reconvene for Part 2 to explore measures to protect human creativity: legal, regulatory, and technological, shaped directly by the questions, challenges, and priorities shared in the room last night. We have our work ahead, but we start from a position of absolute clarity. In the recent words of Johnny McDaid, "We are songwriters, and what we do matters."
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Ben McOwen Wilson reposted thisBen McOwen Wilson reposted thisEarlier this week, I attended an important event organised by UK Music Ltd. Leading figures from the worlds of music, politics and the BBC gathered at the House of Commons to launch UK Music's Our BBC: Our Music campaign. Hosted by the BBC, and sponsored by Alex Sobel MP, Co-Chair of the APPG on Music, the event brought together policymakers, broadcasters and music industry representatives to discuss the future of music on the BBC. UK Music’s Chief Executive Tom Kiehl led an impressive line-up of speakers, including Lorna Clarke, Ian Murray and Elbow frontman and BBC Radio 6 Music presenter, Guy Garvey. The evening also included excellent performances from cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Imogen Williams and The Anchoress. The campaign is calling on the Government to protect and strengthen music's place at the heart of the BBC. With the current BBC Charter due to expire on 31 December 2027, these discussions are significant for performers and audiences alike. It was encouraging to see stakeholders from across the industry, Parliament and the BBC come together to discuss how the BBC can continue to champion music in the years ahead. Also this week, PPL's General Counsel, Camilla Waite and I attended PRS for Music's AI event at BAFTA. The presentation and panel discussion provided a thoughtful overview of current developments in AI and the implications for music creators and the wider industry. AI continues to evolve at pace, bringing both opportunities and challenges. Events such as this are valuable in terms of helping to inform the industry's response to AI, while ensuring creators remain at the heart of the conversation. Yesterday evening, PPL's Chief Membership and People Officer, Kate Reilly - Hurter and I attended the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) AGM. The FAC plays a vital role in ensuring artists' perspectives are represented in industry and policy discussions. This year's AGM explored a number of important issues, including grassroots and European touring, AI licensing and streaming reform, and the potential impact on artists careers and livelihoods. It is important that these debates are put front and centre. I particularly enjoyed hearing from FAC Chair and Blur drummer David Rowntree and FAC CEO David Martin. NME's Andrew Trendell moderated an interesting Year in Review panel which included PPL Momentum fund supported artist, Olive Jones, alongside artists SOFY, Levina and Donae'o. I'd also like to extend my congratulations to all the re-elected directors of the FAC. Taken together, these events reflect some of the key conversations taking place across the music industry today. Photo 1 – Catriona Laing CB, Jez Bell, Ben McOwen Wilson Photo 2 - David Martin, Camilla Waite, Jords, Kelli-Leigh Henry-Davila Photo 3 - PRS AI panel Photo 4 - FAC AGM: David Rowntree Photo 5 – FAC AGM panel
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Ben McOwen Wilson reposted thisBen McOwen Wilson reposted thisSpots on our team don’t open up often. This is one of them. 🚀 My team at YouTube is hiring a Strategic Partner Manager in London to manage and elevate some of the most influential, top-tier Creators in the UK. We need a seasoned partner manager who actually lives digital culture and knows organic content strategy inside out. Someone who can plug in on day one and help the UK's biggest names scale their businesses with Google, developing the next big thing. If you have the track record, understand the nuances of audience engagement, and want to help shape the future of YouTube UK, we want to hear from you. Apply here before the window closes: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eNzqD8Kd Please note: While I'd love to connect with everyone, I won't be able to respond to every direct message about this role. If you are interested, please submit your application directly through the link above! 🙏
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Massive congratulations, Dean Ormston!! I am thrilled for you and APRA AMCOS for this recognition, and not at all surprised! Thank you already for your generosity with your time and your deep, deep knowledge as I migrate to the CMO world! Look forward to working together to grow and strengthen the bonds. Best, bmw
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Isa Fernandes, thank you!! We had a great run, even in the most challenging of times! ❤️
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Thank you, Sophie Jones! Coming in just as you hop back the other way!
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Ben McOwen Wilson liked thisBen McOwen Wilson liked thisA personal note. Next summer my youngest son finishes school, and he'll most likely go off to university in another city. So this is our last winter with him living at home. I wanted something we could do together over the coming months, with time to talk and listen to music. So I ordered the new LEGO Sagrada Família set. With 12.060 pieces it's the biggest set LEGO has ever made. We both love that building. Gaudí's basilica still isn't finished after 140 years, so we hope we will complete ours a bit faster.
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Ben McOwen Wilson reacted on thisBen McOwen Wilson reacted on thisI've got some news. I'm joining Electrify full time as Chief Strategy Officer. But first, a story. In 2008 the trade press asked whether YouTube was a parasite or a partner. I was at YouTube at the time, and I still have the cover. I half-joke that the parasite has become the host, with over a billion hours watched daily and, across Electrify's brands alone, 132 million hours watched on television screens in the past year. Looking back, there's been one thread running through everything I've done. As a TV director and journalist, technology was a tool to tell better stories faster, cheaper, and transmit them safely from remote and sometimes dangerous places. At YouTube and then Facebook and Instagram, it was about widening the pipe: getting traditional rights holders like the BBC, UEFA and the Olympics onto digital platforms, and enabling an entirely new generation of creators to find their audiences alongside them. When I left Facebook, the rise of addictive tech made me want to focus on something different: content that genuinely informs and inspires us as human beings. That led me to co-found Uptime App, a microlearning app built on exactly that bet. It now serves 11 million people across 24 languages, and building it brought me back to the YouTube world in a way I didn't anticipate, but now feels like perfect serendipity. Daryl Cohen of Capital D, also on the board of Uptime, suggested I take a look at a company he thought I'd find interesting. It turned out to be Electrify. He was right. Three years working with the founders, board and team as Senior Strategic Advisor later, I'm joining full time as Chief Strategy Officer. It's genuinely one of the most interesting and fulfilling jobs I've ever had, and we're just getting started. Electrify is home to Veritasium, fern, Mentour Pilot, Astrum, Fireship and The Rundown AI, with more than 65 million subscribers across platforms. Our focus is building knowledge brands that last, and expanding their reach on YouTube and well beyond. If you're building a knowledge brand, or want to work with one, I'd love to talk. Thanks to Ian and Owen for the trust.
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Ben McOwen Wilson liked thisBen McOwen Wilson liked thisIf you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem -> "Soundtrack will be giving PRS UNIQUE “play-by-play data” from more than 7,000 businesses in the UK who use its background-music service, including retail chains, hotels and even the UK Parliament".
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Ben McOwen Wilson reacted on thisBen McOwen Wilson reacted on thisCongratulations to PRS for Music member Annie Lennox on receiving the Artist Songwriter Icon Award at the Songwriters of North America - SONA awards last night in LA. It was a real privilege to witness such a well-deserved recognition, made even more special by the unexpected and incredible live performance of Sweet Dreams 🎵🎤. A true icon and one of my personal all time favourite singer-songwriters. Equally special was experiencing the moving tribute to the exceptional songwriters we have sadly lost over the past year, through a wonderful performance of “Eternal Flame” with Susanna Hoffs, Rick Knowels and Rusty Anderson. ❤️ A memorable evening celebrating outstanding talent, creativity and the enduring power of music. 🎶🎸🎵🎤❤️🫶🏻🎊
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Ben McOwen Wilson liked thisBen McOwen Wilson liked thisIs this a sign of things to come from PRS for Music? I hope so. It looks like a very cool move to me. PRS for Music has partnered with Soundtrack to get play-by-play data on what’s actually being played in around 7,000 UK shops, bars and public spaces. From December, that data feeds straight into royalty payouts. Yes, please! Why does that matter for indie artists? For years, a lot of public performance money has been split using sample or “proxy” data. Apparently, that tends to reward the songs everyone assumes are playing, rther than the ones that actually are. Real data changes that. If your track is on in a café in Leeds, there’s now a better chance you get paid for it. One catch: it only works if your songs are properly registered. Ten minutes now, money later. Hats off to Ben McOwen Wilson at PRS and Ola Sars at Soundtrack for making it happen. More of this, please. #MusicIndustry #IndependentArtists #Royalties #PRSforMusic
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Ben McOwen Wilson liked thisBen McOwen Wilson liked thisAndrew Georgiou is to leave Warner Bros. Discovery, recently absorbed into Skydance, after seven and a half years to become CEO of Global Sports Group, the sports assets portfolio of CVC. Georgiou, the long-serving president and MD for WBD Sports Europe, will take up his new role in Q1 next year. The Australian has been responsible for WBD’s business in the UK and Ireland as well as sport and streaming across EMEA. As CEO at GSG, he will replace Stefano Gastaut, who is to remain on the board and return to his role as operating partner at CVC. 👇 Story https://lnkd.in/e3Kyd8GE
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Ben McOwen Wilson liked thisA very special event with an incredible auction, supporting two wonderful charities Battersea and Pets As Therapy. Even if you can’t join us on the night, you can get involved in the auction now- and what a line up of art, travel and other unique lots to bid on. Donations also very welcome and needed for our animal friends. 🐶😽❤️ https://lnkd.in/eFAqA3n9Ben McOwen Wilson liked thisCalling all art and pet lovers 🎨🐾 The team at The Chancery Rosewood in London, together with a dedicated group of volunteers, have organised a very special online art auction in aid of Battersea and Pets As Therapy, and anyone can bid. Every piece has been generously donated, and every bid will help both charities bring people and animals together to change one another’s lives. Battersea gives dogs and cats a second chance at a happy home. Pets As Therapy volunteers and their pets bring comfort and connection to people in hospitals, care homes, hospices and schools across the UK. Bidding closes on 5th November, so take a look and place your bid here: https://lnkd.in/evQVDF9G A huge thank you to The Chancery Rosewood and to the organising committee, Michael Bonsor, Andrew Pike CBE and Tori Cadogan, for their generosity, hard work and vision in making this happen. We are so grateful. Please share with anyone who might find their next favourite piece while doing some good 💙 #PetsAsTherapy #Battersea #CharityAuction #ArtForGood #AnimalAssistedTherapy #PetsAuction for Battersea & Pets as TherapyAuction for Battersea & Pets as Therapy
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