IMPALA ELECTS NEW EXECUTIVE BOARD IN ZAGREB, HOLDS FIRST EUROPEAN INDEPENDENT MUSIC SUMMIT
(IMPALA’s executive board and guests in Zagreb. Credit: GORAN BEROVIĆ)
Zagreb / Brussels, 31st October 2025
IMPALA elected a new board and set its priorities for the next two years at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Zagreb this week. The meeting was hosted as part of RUNDA Digital Day, RUNDA Adria’s annual conference supported by Merlin, which was represented by Shrina Patel, Merlin’s Senior Director of Business Affairs and Licensing.
Growth of independent businesses was highlighted as a key priority, as well as boosting the market in south and central eastern Europe, access to finance, AI opportunities, independent distribution, streaming reform, collecting society revenues, sustainability, inclusion and access to market including consolidation.
IMPALA’s second representative scheme was also underlined as a key tool to diversify participation in the organisation’s executive board. The full list of executive board members is below.
Chair Dario Draštata (RUNDA Adria) was appointed for a second term, alongside Francesca Trainini (PMI Italia) as President and Geert de Blaere (BIMA) as Treasurer.
A special tribute was paid to the late Horst Weidenmüller, founder of !K7, for his groundbreaking work in the sector and Merlin was thanked for their contribution on sustainability through the Weidenmüller Sustainability Fund launched earlier in the year.
Jeremy Sirota was also recognised for his contribution to the sector during his tenure as CEO of Merlin, including most recently the AI licensing deal with ethical AI operator Eleven Labs based on voluntary participation by Merlin members.
Taking place at the Croatian Employers Federation, IMPALA and RUNDA Adria organised an all-day series of meetings. This included the first ever European Independent Music Summit, co-funded by the EU under the Creative Europe programme. The Summit brought together EU policy-makers, the European Investment Fund, industry professionals including members of global independent music publishers trade body IMPF and key music companies in the Adria region, to exchange with IMPALA’s members about the future of the independent music sector. Within an overall aim of making Europe the best place in the world to be in the music business, various priorities were discussed – finance, market and regulatory frameworks, diversity and discoverability, geographical issues within Europe, as well as a strategic approach to grow Europe’s cultural and creative businesses.
(European Independent Music Summit with Olga Sismanidi, EACEA and Arnauld Pasquali, European Commission)
Special thanks go to Shrina Patel (Merlin), Dario Draštata (RUNDA Adria and Dallas Records), RUNDA Digital Day, as well as to Daryl Fidelak (Lampshade Media), Branko Komljenović (Menart), Pavle Eftimovski (Glitch Records), Nenad Marčec (HDS-ZAMP / HUP), Lana Čulig (Aquarius Records), and Tena Lovrić (Scardona) as well as the Croatian Employers Federation, European Education and Culture Executive Agency (Olga Sismanidi), European Commission (Arnaud Pasquali), and European Investment Fund (Jorge Sanz Gonzalez).
IMPALA Chair, Dario Draštata, President of RUNDA Adria and Executive Director of Dallas Records stated: “This year’s discussions come at a crucial moment for the independent sector across Europe as well as in our region. Our goal is for independents to grow and for our artists to have a level playing field.”
IMPALA President Francesca Trainini, Vice President of Italian association PMI added: “The board’s second representative scheme is designed to broaden participation and bring new perspectives to the table. It was also important for us to brainstorm the whole framework around AI licensing.”
IMPALA Treasurer, Geert De Blaere, Belgian association BIMA commented: “Our goal is to make sure independents have the resources and opportunities they need to grow – from improved access to finance and independent distribution to better conditions in the market”.
IMPALA’s Public Affairs Director, Matthieu Philibert, continued: “The first edition of our European Independent Music Summit brought together EU policy-makers, the European Investment Fund and key figures from the independent music sector across Europe and the Central and South Eastern European region, for what proved to be a very fruitful discussion about the strengths, challenges and needs of Europe’s music SMEs.”
IMPALA’s Executive Chair, Helen Smith concluded: “It’s been a big year for IMPALA, and it’s fitting to hold our annual meeting in one of the key regions for artistic and entrepreneurial talent in Europe. We thank Merlin, RUNDA Adria, the EU and the Croatian Employers Federation for their support.”
The list of IMPALA members elected to the executive board (alphabetical order):
- !K7 (represented by Tom Nieuwboer and Andrea Lacroix)
- AIM (represented by Gee Davy and Chloe Van Bergen)
- AIM Ireland (represented by Ciaran Conroy)
- AMAEI (Carolina Reis and António Bexiga)
- ANMIP (represented by Ruth Koleva and Kristiyana Georgieva)
- Beggars Group (represented by Paul Redding and Martin Mills)
- Better Noise Music (represented by Dan Waite and Claudia Mancino)
- BIMA (represented by Geert De Blaere and Rémi Planchenault) – TREASURER
- Cosmos Music Group (represented by Robert Litsen and Lisa Öhman)
- DUP (represented by Kristoffer Rom and Laura Littauer)
- Edel (represented by Jonas Haentjes)
- Epitaph (represented by Roger Dorresteijn)
- Everlasting Records (represented by Mark Kitcatt)
- FONO (represented by Larry Bringsjord and Olga Solyanik)
- HAIL (represented by Zsolt Jeges and Csaba Nasz)
- Indieco ry (represented by Katja Vauhkonen and Riku Paakkonen)
- INDIERO (represented by Dan Muraru and Anca Lupes)
- IndieSuisse (represented by Andreas Ryser and Margot Voisin)
- Playground Music Scandinavia (represented by Rebecka Sjöström and Jonas Sjöström)
- Platforma (represented by Matej Burda and Martin Nedved)
- PMI (represented by Maria Romana Trainini and Guendalina Gramitto Ricci) – PRESIDENT
- RUNDA (represented by Dario Draštata and Pavle Eftimovski) – CHAIR
- SCL / Lusitanian (represented by Nuno Saraiva and Filipa Rodrigues)
- SOM (represented by Eva Karman Reinhold)
- STOMP (represented by Kees van Weijen and Luciano Winter)
- Sugar Music (represented by Andrea Cotromano)
- UFI (represented by Sonia Durán)
- UPFI (represented by Guilhem Cottet and Laure Cavaillé)
- VTMÖ (represented by Alexander Hirschenhauser)
- VUT (represented by Jörg Heidemann and Henrietta Bauer)
- Wagram Music (represented by Stephan Bourdoiseau)
Gee Davy, Geert de Blaere, Jorg Heidemann and Helen Smith were appointed directors of IMPALA for administrative purposes.
More about IMPALA’s work during the year as welcomed at IMPALA’s AGM:
• IMPALA’s Annual Report 2024/2025
• Combating the Emergence of a Two-Tier Music Streaming Market
• IMPALA’s Streaming Reform Revisited
• AI – Make sure that your rights are reserved!
• Renumeration playbook
• Cutting The Digital Pie, What Is Equitable?
• Universal/Downtown Cultural Diversity Paper
• Strategic Primers
• Digital Forward
• One Step Ahead
• Weidenmüller Sustainability Fund
• CEE Independent Music Academy
• IMPALA Carbon Calculator
• IMPALA Carbon Calculator Report
• IMPALA Business Case for Sustainability
• Annual EDI Report 2024/2025
• 100 Artists to Watch
About IMPALA
IMPALA was established in 2000 and now represents over 6000 independent music companies in Europe. 99% of Europe’s music companies are small, micro and medium businesses and self-releasing artists. Known as the independents, they are world leaders in terms of innovation and discovering new music and artists – they produce more than 80% of all new releases and account for 80% of the sector’s jobs. IMPALA’s mission is to grow the independent music sector sustainably, return more value to artists, promote diversity and entrepreneurship, improve political access, inspire change, and increase access to finance. IMPALA works on a range of key issues for its members and started a new co-funded work programme as an EU cultural network in 2025. IMPALA runs various award schemes and has a programme aimed at businesses who want to develop a strategic relationship with the European independent sector – Friends of IMPALA
