If you’re a songwriter or composer, joining the right royalty societies can make a huge difference in the income you earn. Two of the most important organisations in the UK are PRS and MCPS — but they serve different purposes, and you don’t always need to join both. Let’s break it down in a simple way.
Do I Need to Join PRS, MCPS, or Both?
If you want to collect all the royalties available to you as a songwriter, you would normally join:
- PRS (for performance royalties)
- MCPS (for mechanical royalties)
Both memberships cost:
- £100 one-time fee for PRS
- £100 one-time fee for MCPS
Important: P Tune Studio Publishing Clients
If you are a publishing client of P Tune Studio, you do NOT need to join MCPS.
Why?
Because we already collect your full mechanical royalties worldwide on your behalf.
This saves you the extra fee and simplifies your royalty collection process.
Do I Need To Be Signed to Join?
No.
You don’t need to be signed to a label or publisher to join PRS or MCPS.
You only need one thing:
✔ You must be the copyright owner of the musical work.
Songwriters, composers, beatmakers — anyone who creates music can become a member.
Membership Costs
- PRS for Music: £100 one-off fee
- MCPS: £100 one-off fee
If you are a P Tune Studio publishing client, your mechanical royalties are already handled — so you can skip the MCPS fee.
Need Help?
If you’re not sure whether you should join PRS, MCPS, or rely on P Tune Studio’s publishing administration, our team can walk you through it.
Just tap the support chat on our website — we’re always here to help.