ice
Warner Chappell Music is moving all of its European online processing to ICE. After a 10-month review, the publisher is expanding its partnership with ICE, a joint venture of GEMA, STIM and PRS for Music that serves as a hub for publishing licensing, collections and payment processing for online uses of compositions in Europe and other markets.
A decade ago, the European Union opened the song-licensing market in Europe to competition by allowing any collective management organization (CMO) to license music for online uses across various markets. In other words, while the German CMO GEMA would maintain its offline monopoly in Germany, for example, it would compete with other CMOs to represent songwriters, publishers and other societies for online uses of their work. In practice, the serious competition takes place between the French CMO SACEM and ICE, a joint venture of GEMA, STIM (Sweden) and PRS for Music (U.K.). Other markets have opened to competition as well, although the U.S. is not one of them.
Universal Music Publishing Group works with SACEM, and ICE also works with Sony Music Publishing through SOLAR, which administers the company’s Anglo-American catalog. Warner Chappell had spread its rights over several different processing companies, but this deal means that all of its business in Europe, as well as some other markets, will go through ICE.
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Although the scope of writer and publisher deals with CMOs vary, this one only involves processing, since Warner Chappell does its own licensing.
“In today’s digital music market, there are vast volumes of data to process, and we need to work with a reliable partner to ensure we’re delivering best-in-class service,” Warner Chappell co-Chair and CEO Guy Moot said in the announcement of the deal. “ICE has always proved to be an innovative and flexible partner, so we’re delighted to expand our relationship with them.”
The deal represents a significant, but not unexpected, win for ICE. “It’s a significant decision and we’re committed to continuing to deliver the best services on the market,” ICE chief commercial officer Ben McEwen said in the announcement. “Specifically in the area of online processing, we have led the way with initiatives such as multi-stage invoicing to maximize claims, alongside many other innovations in matching, reporting and quality assurance.”
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Guy Philippe, a leader of a rebellion in Haiti and a convicted drug trafficker, was deported from the United States to his homeland this week. Philippe is just one of thousands deported to the troubled nation since President Joe Biden was sworn into office back in 2021.
The Miami Herald reports that Guy Philippe, 55, was deported on Thursday (November 30) from Alexandria, La. along with over a dozen other individuals. Philippe was a former commander in the Haitian police force who led an armed rebellion in 2004 to overthrow President Jean Bertrand Aristide. From there, Philippe got involved in a scheme with Colombian cocaine traffickers, assisting in a money-laundering operation for the group.
In 2017, after dodging capture by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Philippe was sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in the scheme. Philippe pleaded guilty to the charges but claimed innocence.
Philippe’s return to Haiti has been in process since September after he was released from a federal facility and moved into immigration custody. According to the Herald‘s report, Philippe attempted to get his sentence reduced since the sentencing.
The turn of Guy Philippe is a cause of concern for some as the country has yet to rebound from the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Philippe, despite his criminal record in the United States, won a seat in the Haiti Senate in 2016 while campaigning alongside Moïse. Just before he was set to be sworn in, Philippe was arrested and handed over to the DEA.
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Photo: JAIME RAZURI / Getty
BERLIN — Austrian collecting society AKM, which manages and licenses rights for songwriters and publishers, has joined ICE Core for online licensing. That means ICE, the online licensing hub created by collecting societies in Germany (GEMA), the U.K. (PRS for Music) and Sweden (STIM), will now represent and collect for AKM compositions for online services in much of the world, excluding the U.S. and some Asian markets. The deal includes AKM mechanical rights subsidiary, Austro Mechana.
“The ICE Core reflects the best licensing solution for online music services, with the best value, for our members,” said AKM CEO Gernot Graninger in a statement. “In these times more than ever, societies need to find the right services at the right value.”
ICE was created in response to a change in European Union regulation that allows the societies that take in money for public performing rights in their local territories to compete in the online world. Inevitably, the larger societies, including France’s SACEM and the partnership behind ICE have emerged to dominate that business, since they can make the investments needed to manage the vast amounts of data generated by streaming services. Gradually, this model is spreading to other territories.
AKM had been managing its rights under a partnership with GEMA.
ICE provides several services, including licensing and online processing, and it operates a copyright database. But the core of its operation is licensing – which is why it goes by the name ICE Core. In addition to its founding partner societies, ICE also represents IMRO, the Irish collecting society; SABAM, the Belgian society, and BMI. Concord Music Publishing, Songtrust and peermusic, all based in the U.S., are also direct members.
In November, ICE Core distributed €102 million, breaking its own record for monthly distribution.
“We’re very happy to welcome AKM into the Core,” said ICE chief commercial officer Ben McEwen in a statement. “The collaboration to make this happen reflects all parties working together in the interests of rightsholders, the very DNA of everyone who is part of the ICE hub.”
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