POP/ROCK - July 13, 1987

Songwriting may be the road to fame, but rarely is it the highway to fortune, according to figures released last week by Britain’s Performing Right Society. Major stars with hits in Great Britain and the United States do very well for themselves, but most of the other 17,000 members of the licensing organization, which collects performance royalties for British songwriters, need a second income to achieve a living wage. At its annual general meeting, the society said 72% of its members received less than $450 for 1986. Only 4% received $16,000 or more.