It was the AGM of the Performing Rights Society yesterday, which included the important business of electing new directors to the collecting society's board. The songwriters elected to the board were David Bedford and Nigel Beaham-Powell, while from the music publishers the following won board seats: Chris Butler of Novello & Co, Sarah Levin of Universal Publishing, Jane Dyball of Warner/Chappell and Paulette Long of Westbury Music.
Both PRS chair Ellis Rich and MCPS-PRS Alliance chief Steve Porter said things, while the keynote speech came from the increasingly ubiquitous British Music Rights chief Feargal Sharkey who called on the UK government to do more to help music creators, saying the British music community had to rely on politicians at a European level to look out for their interests.
He was presumably referencing the British government's official line on extending the copyright for recorded music - ie that they shouldn't - which contrasts with that of the European Union's Internal Market Commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, who has spoken out in support of an extension from fifty to 95 years. I'm not sure PRS members care about recording copyrights - though many are probably also recording artists, of course, and Sharkey is keen to see more consensus between different branches of the music business - especially recordings, publishing and live.