SECTOR SPOTLIGHT - MUSIC INDUSTRY
Focus on Apprenticeships with PPL
PPL is the UK’s music licensing company, making sure over 110,000 performers and recording rights holders
get paid. It’s our job to protect our members’ rights and ensure that their talent is fairly rewarded.
Apprenticeships at PPL
Apprenticeships can be a great way into
the music industry and in many cases
they can be an alternative to going to
university. Companies across the music
industry have apprenticeships in a range
of roles. If you want to get earning while
you learn PPL is a great place to start…
PPL has always been dedicated to creating a
diverse workforce, hiring employees with varied
backgrounds and providing opportunities
for development in the workplace. An
apprenticeship with PPL is a fantastic way to
get into the business side of the music industry;
you will learn the fundamentals of how royalties
are paid whilst gaining some great new
transferable skills along the way. You also get to
work with a bunch of awesome people who are
passionate about music.
Here are some of the apprenticeships we have
delivered at PPL and the key skills gained by
each apprentice:
Music Reporting Delivery Assistant - This
apprenticeship offered the opportunity to acquire
data handling skills as well as the opportunity
to learn about how musicians are paid for the
performance and broadcast of their recorded
music around the world. This apprenticeship also
helped improve Microsoft Excel skills by working
with large and complex data sets.
Business Analyst - This apprenticeship
offered the opportunity to really understand
how PPL distributes money to its members.
It provided experience on how to use our
distribution system and how to calculate
distributions as well as how to use software
such as SQL and Confluence.
IT Service Desk Assistant - This apprenticeship
offered the opportunity to acquire essential
IT skills in both hardware and software
support. It also allowed the apprentice to
gain experience in a large company, learning
about multiple areas across the business for
whom the IT Service Desk provided support.
Case Study
Meet Holly Hopwood, Repertoire Data Analyst
Holly was PPL’s first ever apprentice back in 2013! She has had a fantastic
career with PPL and still works here to this day. Holly started as a Music
Reporting Delivery Assistant Apprentice and has progressed through the ranks,
gaining experience in different departments. She is now working as a fullyfledged,
experienced Data Analyst who is vital to the organisation. Holly is
a brilliant example of how an apprenticeship can lead to a successful career.
Here is what she has to say about her experience:
What attracted you to the apprenticeship programme?
The main thing that attracted me to the apprenticeship programme was having
access to a job in the music industry that didn’t require me to have a degree and that
allowed me to study alongside work, with my studies linked to my job.
How have you developed and grown from the programme?
Since completing the programme, I have developed a number of skills and have
grown from working as a Music Reporting Assistant to a Repertoire Data Analyst.
Since completing your apprenticeship what role do you currently undertake?
I now undertake the role of Repertoire Data Analyst, analysing and quality checking
airplay received from our licensees, whilst assisting with a number of other tasks
integral to paying out revenue to musicians and music creators for the use of their
recorded music in the UK.
How has the apprenticeship programme helped develop your career?
The apprenticeship programme has given me access to vital skills needed for my
current job that I otherwise would not have been qualified for.
What was a highlight from your apprenticeship programme?
Whilst my job was focused around copyright and royalties, the apprenticeship
programme gave me access to a range of experts from around the industry and gave
me the opportunity to learn about the music industry as a whole.
HERE IS WHAT HOLLY’S HEAD OF DEPARTMENT HAS TO SAY:
Holly and I have worked in the same department since the beginning of 2018, but
even before we were working together, I was always aware of Holly’s talent and
development within PPL through the very good feedback on her work that was shared
around the company. Holly’s love of a diverse range of music shines through in the
effort and approach she brings to all of her work, and her excellent knowledge on
the way broadcast licensees report music use to PPL have been key to PPL’s continuing
improvements in the way music usage is processed, which ultimately is one of
the fundamental inputs to PPL’s distribution payments to performers and recording
rightsholders. Alongside this, Holly has been the driving force within PPL in recent
years in putting together all the data for the various “most-played” charts that PPL
publish, which have led to lots of very positive press, radio and TV coverage for PPL,
promoting the work that PPL does, its expertise in this field, and its importance to the
recorded music industry.
BENEFITS OF THE PROGRAMME
Apprenticeships have been a great way for PPL to further develop and foster young
people wanting to start a career in the music industry. Not only has it given fantastic
opportunities to our apprentices but it has also helped us identify future talent and
foster their passion for music through coaching and mentoring. We have been
able to nurture our apprentices in order for them to progress and secure permanent
opportunities at PPL; in turn, this supports us with future proofing our talent.
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