Centralized Euro Digital Music Licensing Hub ICE To Bow in 2016

Robert Ashcroft To Head ICE

The EUROPEAN UNION licensing hub being jointly created by rights societies PRS FOR MUSIC, STIM and GEMA will launch in the new year under the ICE (INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT ENTERPRISE) brand.

Designed to drive growth in the digital music market, the hub will assist both music rightsholders and digital service providers (DSPs) in maximizing value by providing streamlined customer service through state-of-the-art technology.  ICE, powered by the authoritative copyright database and new processing, finance and business intelligence systems, will increase the speed, accuracy and efficiency of music matching and invoicing to ensure that rightsholders are paid more quickly and transparently than ever before while making it easier for music services to secure multi-territory licences.

The hub will offer a complete set of services for the market, including data processing and matching, authoritative copyright and audio-visual database along with back-room services like invoicing, legal and business intelligence.

Consolidated licensing of PRS FOR MUSIC, GEMA and STIM’s multi-territory online rights and options for other rights holders to join the same core license or to operate separate solutions, such as SOLAR and ARESA.

DSPs will obtain a single, consolidated multi-territory licence for EUROPE for PRS FOR MUSIC, STIM and GEMA and other repertoires represented by the hub.  They will receive one invoice produced from one data source, which will improve efficiency by removing the need to analyZe and resolve conflicts between, multiple invoices issued from potentially conflicting copyright databases.

All DSPs operating on a multi-territory basis will be welcomed as licensing customers, and publishers and collection societies will be welcomed as customers for either the full suite of services including licensing, or a selection of back office services to fit their individual needs.

The core licence will be available from 2016 onwards and will include the repertoires of the three societies. SOLAR and ARESA will continue to license their own repertoires independently.

PRS FOR MUSIC, STIM and GEMA will continue to license single territory digital music services on a national basis.

ROBERT ASHCROFT will, in addition to his role as CEO of PRS FOR MUSIC,oversee the establishment of the joint venture as the first CEO for the licensing and professional services arm of the joint venture.

Commented ASHCROFT: “We are immensely proud to announce the completion of PRS FOR MUSIC, STIM and GEMA’s agreement to launch the first integrated music licensing and processing hub. This follows the EUROPEAN COMMISSION’s competition clearance in JUNE, following an exhaustive investigation of the EUROPEAN online music market. We had a vision five years ago to support the fragmented music market by developing a hub that would encourage the aggregation of music repertoires and offer state-of-the art rights management systems run from a single, authoritative database. Today we are bringing that vision to life with the launch of this brand new company. It’s a defining moment for the music industry.”

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