UK music licensing company PPL has announced the signing of multi-platinum-selling Scottish singer-songwriter, Lewis Capaldi, for international neighbouring rights royalty collections. As PPL’s first signing announced in 2024, he joins a host of artists who signed with PPL in 2023 for international collections, including Central Cee, Libianca and Trevor Horn.

Headquartered in London, PPL licenses the use of recorded music in the UK and collects neighbouring rights royalties on behalf of performers and recording rightsholders from around the world. On signing with PPL, Capaldi will benefit from the expertise of its 200+ team, cutting-edge data processing technology, and a network of over 110 agreements with collective management organisations (CMOs) internationally, as the company begins to collect royalties on his behalf for the use of his music on radio, TV and in public spaces around the world. Last week, PPL announced it had paid out £18.8 million of international revenue in its Q1 distribution to over 22,000 performers and recording rights holders.

Capaldi is one of the UK’s most successful solo artists, with two Brits, two UK number-one albums and five number-one singles already under his belt, as well as a Billboard No.1 single in the US. He is the first artist to sell out an arena tour before releasing an album and his debut ‘Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent’, was the biggest album in the UK for two years running. In 2022 he was crowned the “King of Streaming” by the Official Charts Company overtaking Ed Sheeran’s “Shape Of You” to become the UK’s most streamed song of all time. Most recently, Capaldi’s enduring popularity and sense of humour saw him score the highest number of views on TikTok of any UK artist in 2023 and a Grammy nomination for his Netflix film ‘How I’m Feeling Now’.

Welcoming Lewis Capaldi to PPL, Chief Membership and People Officer Kate Reilly said: “Lewis Capaldi stands out as one of the most accomplished and dedicated performers to come out of the UK in recent years. To have him choose PPL for the international collection of his neighbouring rights income is a great way to end the first quarter. We are committed to ensuring that the neighbouring rights royalties he earns from the use of his records reflects the extensive global impact of his music.”

Lewis’ Manager, Ryan Walter, Managing Director of Interlude Artists, added: “We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with the brilliant team at PPL who consistently demonstrate exceptional dedication, care and attention to detail across Neighbouring Rights, it’s an honour to have the chance to work alongside them.”