Licensing joint venture with STIM and GEMA to provide services across Europe
Licensing and processing hub to provide services across Europe
PRS for Music (UK), STIM (Sweden) and GEMA (Germany) have today announced a major collaboration that will simplify both national and pan-European music rights licensing and processing.
As part of this initiative, GEMA will become a shareholder and customer in International Copyright Enterprise AB (ICE), the company founded by PRS for Music and STIM in 2007. ICE will extend its current copyright repertoire management services to include the processing of transactional licences to Digital Music Services, both for its shareholder societies and for other society customers. In due course ICE will also create a state of the art audio visual database for film and television music processing.
PRS for Music, STIM and GEMA will in parallel establish a licensing hub that will combine the national repertoires of all three collective management organisations (collecting societies) as well as providing licensing services to other holders of multi-territorial European online rights, both publishers and societies. The combined repertoire available to license through the new hub will be amongst the largest of its kind in Europe, providing access to millions of works for download, subscription and streaming services.
Slated for delivery in 2014*, the proposed joint venture will use the strong copyright and online processing services from ICE, who in turn will work in tandem with the future Global Repertoire Database (GRD) and deliver benefits that include:
- Faster and more accurate invoicing and royalty payments, aiding both creators and music users
- Significantly fewer licensing negotiations for digital music services operating and launching across Europe
- A reduction in processing costs and an increase in accuracy as duplicate systems and processes are combined
- The ability to include other societies repertoires on an equal basis expanding licensing capability and bringing cultural diversity to European digital music services
By entering into this joint venture we are ensuring that GEMA will continue to play a leading role among European collecting societies in the future. Pooling the strengths of PRS for Music, STIM and ICE has a synergy effect and makes us ideally equipped to respond to dynamic market developments and subsequent changes in music consumption habits. Our authors will now benefit from simplified and more efficient rights management, as well as online processing in a central European database. This is another important step towards increasing the attractiveness of GEMA’s repertoire in the future.
This partnership will enable dramatic improvements in licensing and rights management across Europe by reducing complexity and increasing efficiency. It will accelerate the growth and development of the digital music market, while ensuring that songwriters, composers and music publishers are paid the right amount of money, faster, more accurately and at lower cost. This is good news for everyone involved, from our members to the digital music service providers.
I am confident that our partnership will create a modern and more cost-efficient management of music rights in Europe. This initiative is simply a response to market demand – music needs to be distributed anywhere, anytime and on any device, to the benefit of both consumers and creators. Our joint aim is to make music licensing and royalty payments more efficiently– in short to encourage market entry for legal services and allow music lovers to enjoy music.
The is a great step forward for the "one stop shop" of online licensing in Europe, and ICE is proud to deliver the back office services, technology and solutions that enables this joint venture and helps reduce complexity and cost, and secures a fast and accurate return to rights holders.
STIM
STIM is a Swedish collecting society for music creators and music publishers. On their behalf, STIM administers and licenses performing and mechanical rights to music and lyrics. STIM is a non-profit organization owned by its 71, 000 members.
GEMA
GEMA represents in Germany the copyrights of more than 65,000 members (composers, text authors and music publishers), as well as over two million copyright holders from all over the world. It is one of the largest societies for authors of works of music in the world.
ICE
International Copyright Enterprise Services AB (ICE) is a limited company delivering Professional Services and Managed Services to the Music Industry within back office management and administration of musical rights. The company was founded in 2007 as a joint venture between STIM and its British equivalence PRS for Music and has an office in Stockholm and a branch office in London.
The ICE Mission is to create value for Rights Holders through increase efficiency and savings by offering joint back office services to the Music Industry. With more than 15 million Music Works registered for more than 170.000 songwriters, composers and music publishers, highly educated Copyright Officers, a unique IT solution and 5 million unique Copyright works processed since 2007, ICE is providing the most advanced service in the market today for Music Copyright Management.
About PRS for Music
PRS for Music is a world-leading music collective management organisation representing the rights of more than 165,000 talented songwriters, composers and music publishers around the globe. Headquartered in the UK, it works diligently on behalf of its members to grow and protect the value of their rights. With a focus on innovation and integrity, PRS for Music is redefining the global standard for music royalties to ensure creators are paid whenever their musical compositions and songs are streamed, downloaded, broadcast, performed and played in public. In 2022, PRS for Music collected £964m and paid out £836.2m in royalties. prsformusic.com
