Music Publishers Association

Roberto Neri (Utopia Music) and Richard King (Faber Music) retire as Chairs of MPA and PMLL respectively.

The Music Publishers Association (and the Group of Companies) is delighted to announce the appointment of Paulette Long OBE (Long Term Music) as MPA Chair and Rachel Lindley (Oxford University Press) as PMLL Chair. They join Jackie Alway OBE (Universal Music Publishing Group), current MCPS Chair, as Chairs across all three MPA Group Companies.

As Roberto Neri and Richard King retire from their roles as MPA and PMLL Chairs, the organisation warmly thanks them for their tenures. Neri has served as Chair for three years, while King has served for ten.

Paulette Long OBE has 38 years experience within music publishing and the wider music industry working as a publisher, consultant and Director. She has served as a Board director of the MPA, PRS for Music and has been included in Music Week’s Women in Music Roll of Honour amongst many other accolades.

Rachel Lindley is an experienced music, education and publishing professional, specialising in the digital, printed music publishing and education sectors. She has served on the MPA, PMLL and Youth Music Boards.

At the AGM, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion was a key focus and theme, with keynote speaker Emmillio Inyang, Motivational Speaker and Author, delivering his presentation, ‘From Talk to Positive Change.’

Paul Clements, CEO, MPA said:
“I very much look forward to furthering our organisation’s work with Paulette, Jackie and Rachel at the helm, while I warmly thank Roberto and Richard for their dedication and incredibly hard work on behalf of our members, while supporting my team and I throughout their service as Chairs.” 

Roberto Neri, retiring Chair, MPA said:
“It has been the biggest honour to serve as Chair of the MPA and to represent the UK’s stellar music publishing community. I could not be happier to pass the baton to the amazing Paulette and to see the MPAs reinforced commitment to diversity and inclusion. I have no doubt that Paulette will continue the MPA’s meaningful work towards ensuring the publishing sector is truly advocated for and represented. Given my role as Chief Operating Officer at Utopia Music, I have also made the decision to step down from the board to ensure neutrality, as we continue to serve all parts of the music industry equally and work with all trade bodies represented at UK Music.”

Paulette Long OBE, incoming Chair, MPA said:
“I’m really pleased to be taking on this role as Chair of the MPA. I would like to express my thanks to my predecessor Roberto Neri for his vision, hard work and entrepreneurial style during his time as Chair. I look forward to working with the Board and the entire MPA team, along with the MPA Publisher Members as we work towards creating a more dynamic organisation and a stronger, more balanced industry.”

Rachel Lindley, Chair, PMLL said:
“I am delighted to step into my new role as Chair of PMLL. To witness the success and growth of PMLL over the past few years has been incredibly exciting and I thank and congratulate Richard King on his dedication to his role as Chair over the past ten years.”

     More key takeaways from the MPA AGM and MCPS & PMLL ARMs:

• The MPA are launching 10 Employee Networks across Protected Characteristics as DEI remains a key focus.
• Priority focus on maximising value from digital services, getting under the hood of the ‘digital pie’ and seeking a share of revenues for songwriters, composers and publishers which is real and fair.
• Government asked to review and reverse their proposed TDM exception for AI (incl. machine learning).
• MPA to undertake a 3-month governance review across its group companies.
• MCPS delivered 15% growth in distributions to £181.7m in 2021 while reducing its commission by 10% from 1 August and rebating £7.2m back to members from excess commissions. Further growth is on the near horizon.
• PMLL celebrates 10^thAnniversary with major blanket licensing renewals across the education sector and launch of new licensing schemes for Amateur Choirs and Music Services.