What does royalty-free music mean?
PRS for Music (United Kingdom) is a music collecting society that represents songwriters, composers, and music publishers. Its role is to protect the copyrights of its members and to collect licence fees whenever their music is used publicly.
When a music creator decides to become a member of PRS for Music, they grant PRS the right to license their works and to collect fees on their behalf for public performance and usage.
However, membership in PRS for Music is not mandatory. Artists are free to manage the rights to their music independently, license their works directly, and define their own pricing models.
Music created by artists who are not members of PRS for Music is commonly referred to as royalty-free music or PRS-free music.