MCPS-PRS takes forensic approach to radio

17:52 | Monday May 19, 2008

MCPS-PRS claims that the new system will double the accuracy of its radio royalty payments to members.

Nielsen’s system will initially be applied to 75 UK commercial radio stations where previously a sampling methodology was used to monitor overall performance information.

Fingerprinting technology works by matching music broadcast by a radio station to a digital fingerprint of music held on a central database, creating an accurate representation of commercially-released recordings being broadcast.

The remaining smaller commercial radio stations will continue to be paid by taking samples of the music broadcast throughout the year.

MCPS-PRS Alliance chief executive Steve Porter says, “We are very excited to be partnering with Nielsen Music Control. Their innovative monitoring technology, based on digital fingerprinting, and comprehensive data of 500,000 recordings will enable us to further enhance the accuracy of our royalty distributions.”