Dr. Richard James Burgess named PPL chair, succeeds John Smith
British music rights organization PPL selected Richard James Burgess as board chairman starting January 2026. The appointment follows John Smith’s departure after leading the directors for nearly ten years. Burgess will leave his position as American Association of Independent Music president by year’s end after serving since 2016.
The incoming chairman produced albums for Spandau Ballet and performed with the band Landscape before managing independent labels and studios. PPL collects performance royalties for more than 150,000 artists and recording owners through 110 international agreements. Chief executive Peter Leathem praised the appointee’s experience in balancing innovation with organizational stability across multiple industry roles.
Smith helped establish PPL PRS Ltd as a joint licensing venture with PRS for Music while expanding international collections. The organization generated record revenue of 301 million pounds last year, representing 6 percent annual growth. Recent quarterly distributions totaled 96.7 million pounds to 139,000 recipients, marking a 7 percent decline from the prior year.
