International Power Players

The world of collecting societies used to be simple: The French SACEM was pronounced “sa-sem,” the German GEMA was pronounced “gay-ma,” the international organization CISAC was pronounced “si-sak” (except in Europe, where it’s usually “see-zak”), and the American SESAC was pronounced “see-sak” (except in Europe, where it’s usually “say-zak”). Then the passage of the 2014 European Union (EU) collecting society directive made things really complicated.

That landmark legislation made the collecting societies compete to represent songwriters and publishers in the online world in Europe. While the European societies would continue to collect from the bars, concert venues and TV and radio stations in their home territories, they would now license to streaming services across Europe compositions from the rights holders they represented. And over the past decade, many other countries — much of the world, with notable exceptions that include the United States, China and Japan — have adopted this system. “All of the societies now compete to sign publishers and creators to represent,” says SACEM CEO Cécile Rap-Veber.

Two global licensing giants are emerging from this competition: SACEM and ICE, a licensing hub formed as a joint venture by GEMA, the Swedish STIM and the British PRS for Music; Peter de Mönnink has run the Berlin-based ICE since early 2022. SACEM, the oldest songwriters collecting society in the world, collects for Universal Music Publishing online in most territories outside the United States, while ICE collects similar royalties for Sony Music Publishing; Warner Chappell Music’s rights are split between the two.

The societies behind ICE are also formidable on their own. Under CEO Andrea Martin, PRS for Music collected 777.1 million pounds ($960.3 million) in 2021, the last year for which results are available — a 22.4% increase over the previous year on a constant currency basis. Also in 2021, GEMA revenue increased 8.4% to 1 billion euros ($1 billion); the Munich-based society is expected to name a new CEO by summer because Harald Heker, who has helmed it since 2007, is said to be retiring this year. (By comparison, SACEM took in 1.1 billion euros [$1.2 billion] in 2021.) STIM had 2.2 billion kronor ($213.2 million) in 2021 revenue, up 13%, although Sweden is a far smaller country. (These financial results reflect 2021, since not all of the societies have released their 2022 numbers.) STIM has always been more important because “there is an exceptional demand for Swedish music,” says CEO Casper Bjørner, “and STIM has a strong focus on innovation of digital services for our members.” Besides its work with ICE, STIM also has a deal with a PanAsian licensing hub run by the Australian society APRA.

The budgets these societies possess give them the ability to compete globally — not all the smaller societies have the budgets to develop the technology to handle all the data that digital service providers offer. But the growing number of works they represent also give them more negotiating leverage. The interests of big and small societies alike, as well as those of creators in general, are represented by CISAC, a trade organization of collecting societies led by director general Gadi Oron.

Competition is usually collegial but fierce. SACEM has made deals to represent rights holders and societies from the Middle East and Francophone Africa, while ICE and PRS for Music have done better in English-speaking Africa. And, much as the EU envisioned, that competition among societies gives them an incentive to aggressively represent the interests of their clients. “We want to be the best collecting society in the world,” says Rap-Veber, “both in terms of revenue and also getting creators the most money possible.”

This story originally appeared in the April 22, 2023, issue of Billboard.