Ed Sheeran and Adele were among the musicians paid a record £605 million in royalties last year. The PRS (Performing Rights Society), saw a big leap in revenue, more than £77.5 million on 2016. There has been 6.6 trillion performances of music – classed as downloads, streams, live performances, and online, broadcasts of songs and compositions. Paul McCartney remains the most played PRS songwriter and composer and Sheeran is the most streamed across major digital platforms.