The organisation that licenses music has asked Ripon City Council to pay a fee for staging an outdoor carol service that was attended by about 20 people.
PPL PRS sent the council an invoice for £1,505 for 45 public events that took place last year.
One of the events was a Christmas Eve carol service on the Market Square.
The costing for the afternoon carol service was based on a notional 750 people attending. But the council is disputing the claim.
Councillor Andrew Williams, the chair of the council’s events committee and leader of the council, told the Stray Ferret:
“There were fewer than two dozen people present because of the poor weather, so heaven knows where they got that ridiculous figure from.
“With so many other important things that we are having to deal with at present – such as the coronavirus crisis – receiving an unexpected bill that just doesn’t stack up has sounded a sour note with the council and we are challenging the invoice.
“If necessary, we are prepared to make a song and dance about this!”
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Cllr Williams also queried whether the bill should have been sent in the first place.
He said:
“The public events involving music that we staged in the city during 2019 were all at venues or on land owned by Harrogate Borough Council and they hold the required licences.”
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PPL PRS is a joint venture between the UK’s two music licensing organisations — PPL and PRS for Music
A spokesperson for the organisation said:
“In the instance of a live carol concert, providing the material used falls within PRS repertoire and the event has no admission cost, the fee charged is based upon the maximum capacity of the venue, in this case 750 people.
“If the venue is operating under a reduced capacity figure, the organiser can declare this to us and an adjustment in the cost can then be made at the point of the next review. If this information is not submitted to us the event would be charged at the capacity figure.
“We have previously been in touch with the customer in question to request the correct information from them, and we would be more than happy to speak with them to resolve any issues they have with regard to the music licence invoice and attendance figures/events.”
With regard to how it gathers information used in drawing up invoices, PPL PRS said it uses “online research and historical information provided by the customer to establish events taking place, the capacity of the venue, admission cost, and the expected attendance”.