The Universal Music Publishing Group and Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers Of Music (SACEM) celebrated their one-year old Pan-European licensing agreement by christening it: “D.E.A.L” (Direct European Administration and Licensing), and announcing three digital music service providers, today at MIDEM.
Since the two entities began their joint model for licensing and administration of their rights for multi-territorial online and mobile exploitation in Europe, deals have been secured with Amazon; Nokia’s Come With Music service; and Spotify, enabling this service to offer music via unique technology that enables on-demand streaming of audio content.
The move toward Pan-Euro licensing came in 2005 as the European Commission was exploring ways to simplify licensing for digital uses and to make collecting societies throughout the European Union more competitive. Previously, digital music service providers were required to license rights from one or two societies in each of the 27 EU countries.
The UMPG/SACEM ventures allows right holders to control the administration of their rights and receive appropriate remuneration for the exploitation of their works while giving users the simple and secure access to protected works they require.
In related news, Universal Music Publishing Group signed a content deal with Sony Ericsson’s mobile promotional platform, PlayNow Uncut.
