BERLIN – BMG Rights Management and the German collection society GEMA reached an agreement that will simplify the licensing and administration of online rights for BMG’s Anglo-American repertoire across Europe.
The partnership will begin July 1, 2012.
“This service will boost the benefits of cross-border digital music services”, said Hartwig Masuch, CEO of BMG to Billboard. “This simplified, more transparent and faster accounting for our songwriters will give both music creators and users advantages in rights administration.”
As one of the leading copyright administration organizations worldwide, GEMA in conjunction with the English PRS for Music already administers the Anglo-American mechanical repertoire of EMI Music Publishing under the CELAS banner, and the Anglo-American mechanical repertoire of Sony/ATV under the name of PAECOL. More than 70 percent of BMG’s one million titles are Anglo-American repertoire.
“With this agreement GEMA now has one of the most attractive catalogues of music rights in the online area,” said Dr. Harald Heker, chairman of GEMA’s Executive Board in Munich in a statement. “It can be offered to national as well as foreign online users as part of its Pan-European licensing program. With this cooperation on licensing and administration of mechanical online rights in all of Europe, GEMA is in the best position to grant rights in the online area, which has a promising future”
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Laurent Hubert, President Creative & Marketing, BMG North America, said in the same statement: “Simplifying the licensing process and speeding up payment to writers is one part of the picture, but of equal importance is the ability the deal gives us to actively seek out new opportunities and experiment with new business models. This deal is about unlocking the enormous potential of music’s digital future.”