Interesting article on BBC news about this - thought I would share
Just IMO - I feel that as musicians are migrating to making most of their music from live performance, where they are performing songs written for them, the songwriter should be getting a cut of that live performance of their work. Am I alone in thinking that? Would welcome views 
They already do. Look up the Performing Rights Society. Only been going for 101 yearsssssssssssssssssssss.
Isnt that what publishers are all about?
really? I didnt think they did for live performances - hence cover bands etc - will check it out though! and does make me wonder what all the fuss about songwriting income loss is then…
thanks
The clue is in the name “Performing” Rights Society.
The MCPS ( mechanical copyright protection society ) handled royalties from recordings and was merged with the PRS in 1997.
The revenue from all establishments having a music license is split between copyright owners pro-rata to what’s calculated as selling at the the time. Bigger venues will get their acts to fill out a form detailing the songs they performed.
Thanks - I guess what I am trying to understand is - if you take someone like Adele (who I know claims to co-write her songs, but looking at it more closely, her producers are writing them or buying them in for her), if she performs a song at one her shows, is she paying the songwriter a large amount of money for each gig (so she can perform in the first place) or is MCPS basically passing on the same amount they would if a covers band covered it in a pub gig?
Some sell their songs outright, others will collect royalties through a publisher in coordination with a PRS via licensing. Contractual agreements may vary. Have a look at http://www.socan.ca/creators