The estate of John Lennon, the former Beatles icon, has engaged a UK music licensing organization to oversee the collection of royalties from all sound recordings featuring either the late musician or his widow, Yoko Ono, as performers.
The music licensing firm Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) will handle neighbouring rights royalties for the estate whenever music by the duo is played in public places such as stores and bars, or broadcast on commercial radio and television.
Lennon was tragically killed in 1980 in New York City, having been shot by Mark David Chapman.
The John Lennon estate released a statement highlighting that, “PPL has demonstrated they are the leaders in championing neighbouring rights on a global scale.”
PPL conducted an analysis of radio and television airplay data from the 21st century to create a list of the most frequently played Lennon tracks, with “Woman” ranking first.
This 1980 song accounts for 24% of Lennon’s overall airplay, while his earlier hit “Imagine,” released in 1971, secured the second position, representing 23% of his total airplay.
Peter Leathem, the chief executive of PPL, expressed that it is “an honour” to be appointed by the estate for the collection of neighbouring rights.
“Our team diligently works to ensure every possible avenue is explored in the collection of neighbouring rights royalties globally,” he stated.
“It is a privilege to stand for and collect public performance and broadcast rights around the world for such a cherished body of recorded music.”
This news comes on the heels of the announcement that Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese will produce a new documentary about the Beatles, reflecting on their iconic arrival in America 60 years ago.
Entitled “Beatles ’64,” this documentary will depict the British quartet—Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr—landing at Kennedy Airport in New York City on February 7, 1964, which set off a wave of Beatlemania across the city and the entire nation.
