Leading independent dance label Armada Music and its founder DJ Armin van Buuren honoured by IMPALA Outstanding Contribution Award

Merlin’s CEO Charles Caldas on Indies, Streaming and the Market Share Issue (Op-Ed)

With four weeks to go until Europe closes a public consultation on the relationship between copyright and the digital age, independent music companies call on everyone involved with music to make their voice heard.

Cultural and creative organisations, grouped under the ‘Creativity Works!’ banner, welcome the publication today of an EU study1 that shows that citizens view intellectual property and its social and economic contribution positively.

Merlin, the global rights agency for the independent label sector, has announced the results of its biennial board election.
The vote attracted the highest ever number of candidates, with Merlin members determining the make-up of the 15-seat board.

Hypothetically, digital music fans should currently be living through a golden era. But short-sighted interests could be leading us into a dysfunctional new era of the music business instead.

Like-minded organisations, federations and associations from the European cultural and creative sectors have formed a coalition: Creativity Works!.

Merlin, the global rights agency for the independent label sector, has hired former Warner Music Group executive Roger Gold.

The cultural and creative sectors welcome the first official European study1 highlighting the central role of Europe’s IP-intensive industries as drivers of innovation, growth and jobs. This was carried out by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) and the European Patent Office (EPO) and presented today in Brussels.

Jean Michel Jarre, President of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), came to Brussels to draw attention to the adverse impact the draft amendment of Belgian copyright law will have on artists.

Platform welcomes European Parliament report ‘Promoting the European cultural and creative sectors as sources of economic growth and jobs’, adopted today, and calls on European Commission and Member States to deliver.

IMPALA held its annual general meeting this weekend, in the midst of Berlin Music Week, electing 24 members to its Board for the next two years. The AGM was hosted by VUT at its inaugural ‘VUT Indie Days’.

IMPALA presented German electronic music duo Modeselektor with a Double Silver Award at this year’s Berlin Music Week. The award recognises sales of over 40,000 for the group’s third album, Monkeytown.

The Nielsen Music/IMPALA radio charts for the second quarter of 2013 have been published, showcasing the diversity of independent music in Europe.

As a final political trilogue on the 2014-2020 multi-annual financial framework is due to take place on Tuesday 18 June, the European Platfom on the potential of Cultural and Creative Industries renews its call on policy-makers to allocate an adequate budget for the Creative Europe programme.

Merlin turns five this year, and has plenty to celebrate. The global rights agency’s ongoing success has seen it continue to attract a steady stream of new members, who now embody 20,000 independent labels, with a catalogue of three million tracks, from 35 countries.

European Ministers discussed online content in the digital age at today’s EU Competitiveness Council. This meeting comes at a time when politicians must think carefully about how to strike a balance between creativity, quality content, consumer demand and technology.

Marking its fifth anniversary of operation, Merlin, the global rights agency for the independent record sector, has published results of a member survey that declare streaming a serious business.

The new official independent airplay charts for Europe by Nielsen/IMPALA for the first quarter of 2013 are out, showcasing independent music in Europe. The Top 20 features Saule (ft Charlie Winston) and Baauer, as well as household names such as Adele, Cro and C2C.

Earlier today the European Commission gave its regulatory approval of the sale of the Parlophone Group (PLG) to Warner Music Group (WMG).

UPFI (Union des Producteurs Phonographiques Français Indépendants) released the following press statement on the Lescure report: UPFI welcomes the voluntary and ambitious nature of the measures regarding cultural industries but expresses concerns about the direction of some proposals on the music industry.

Charles Caldas, CEO of MERLIN (www.merlinnetwork.org) is the latest winner of the IMPALA Outstanding Contribution Award. He joins prestigious recipients such as Martin Mills and Mario Pacheco on the winners’ list of IMPALA’s annual award, which recognises the unrivaled efforts of an individual or organisation to promote and develop European independent music and the sector’s diversity.

Coexist, the second album by London outfit The xx has won the IMPALA prize for the best independent album in Europe.

As part of their remit to strengthen the independents, IMPALA and Merlin confirmed today that they have struck a landmark agreement with Warner Music Group.

This month Nielsen Music and IMPALA release two charts, with the overall Top 30 for 2012, and the last quarter charts highlighting the best climbers and new entries. Showcasing independent music, they feature acts from all over Europe such as Michel Telo, Youssoupha, Jose de Rico, Two Door Cinema Club, Alesso, DJ Fresh and of course Adele.

With the announcement of Warner Music’s successful bid for the Parlophone group, IMPALA sees the news as a step towards tackling the duopolisation of the music market by the two market leaders Universal and Sony.

Independent music companies call on policymakers to make EU ‘fit for copyright in the digital age’

Ahead of the 7-8 February Special Summit on the EU’s Multi-Annual Financial Framework, the European Platform on the potential of Cultural and Creative Industries (‘The Platform’) – a group of more than 40 organisations representing a wide range of cultural and creative sectors – calls on EU Member States to adopt a strong budget for ‘Creative Europe’, the 2014-2020 programme for the cultural and creative sectors.

Who paid more tax in the UK than Apple, Facebook, Google and Amazon combined?

As EU leaders meet in Brussels next week to discuss the future of the EU budget, the European Music Office and IMPALA (the Independent Music Companies Association) team up to advocate for a stronger EU support for cultural and creative industries.

Cannes, 29 January 2013 – Today at Midem, the European Commission and its investment fund (EIF) discussed a proposal for a new loan guarantee scheme with independent music companies.

Independent music companies have always been early adopters of new opportunities, including digital distribution. For well over a decade, independent artists and independent labels have proactively partnered with innovative new services that can deliver value to creators and fans.

Following its successful launch in 2011, the IMPALA European Independent Album of the Year Award is back for its third edition, with voting now taking place on an 18-album shortlist to decide this year’s winner.

As Sony and Universal advance with selling off assets as part of the EC’s approval for the acquisition by the two market leaders of their former rival EMI, European independents confirmed today that they have asked the EC to intervene.

The latest IMPALA Sales Awards announcement is the biggest ever, with 118 registrations from independent artists including Andrea Bocelli (Italy), Mogwai (UK), The Notwist (Germany), Vitalic (France), Els Amics de les Arts (Spain), Soap & Skin (Austria), Royksopp (Norway) and Sigur Ros (Iceland)…

On 22-23 November, EU leaders will meet in Brussels for a special summit focused exclusively on the multi-annual financial framework (MFF), which will determine the expenditure limits for the future EU budgets 2014-2020.

These charts showcase the diversity and vitality of independent music in Europe, featuring acts such as Orelsan, Die Toten Hosen, Basto, Two Door Cinema Club, and the continued success of Adele.

The tax credit in France for music companies has been extended for three years to 2015. The decision of the French government was eagerly awaited by SMEs from the music sector and shows the will of the French Ministry of Culture to accompany these SMEs in their efforts in favour of musical production in France.

Declaration on private copying – 12 organisations agree – an essential source of income for Europe’s creators

The independents welcome the EC’s conclusion that Universal’s power is a problem across the whole market, both digital and physical, including access to media. The Commission’s insistence on tough remedies, despite strong positioning by Universal, is also applauded, as well as its clear rejection of arguments that piracy and larger online players are restraining forces.

Reacting to the European Commission’s decision to allow Universal’s acquisition of EMI, albeit subject to extensive divestments, Charles Caldas, CEO of Merlin has issued a statement as follows…

Reacting to the Federal Trade Commission’s decision to clear Universal Music’s acquisition of EMI, with no conditions, Charles Caldas, CEO of Merlin has issued a statement as follows…

As the deadline approaches for the EC to rule on the proposed Universal/EMI merger, music independent companies across Europe today urged the Commission to block Universal’s endeavour to gain more power in the music market.

The chart has no less than ten new entries, with DJ Antoine featuring The Beat Shakers, Matt Houston and Die Toten Hosen appearing straight at the first three places of the chart. The best climbers include French artists Shaka Ponk, 1995 and Orelsan, as well as hip-hop trio De La Soul.

At a time when the Spanish government is asking billions of Euros of solidarity to bail the country out of its financial problems, the same government is disowning its commitment under EU legislation (article 5.2.b) of Directive 2001/29/EC) to provide a system to compensate artists and the film and music industry for the private copying of audio and audiovisual works.

At an IMPALA board meeting yesterday, the board voted to continue its opposition to the Universal/EMI merger, underlining its concerns that any remedies would have to be able to deal with the concerns raised by the European regulators regarding the impact of the merger.

The European Commission has released a non-confidential version of its decision on Sony/EMI earlier today, explaining its approval of the Sony/EMI publishing merger on 19th April, subject to remedies.

The European Commission has released a non-confidential version of its decision on Sony/EMI earlier today, explaining its approval of the Sony/EMI publishing merger on 19th April, subject to remedies.

The latest batch of IMPALA Sales Awards is one of the biggest ever, with 111 registrations from across Europe for new awards from Silver through to multi-Platinum.

In a speech this morning about anti-trust enforcement, the EC Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia confirmed that it would be moving to the “next stage” in its investigation in the Universal/EMI merger.

IMPALA welcomes new quantitative research which demonstrates the commercial value placed by consumers, when buying devices, on the ability of such devices to play music copied from CDs. The study also looked at what data consumers find most valuable to back up when using cloud services.

IMPALA welcomes European Commissioner Barnier’s most recent commitment to copyright. Still available in French only, the Commissioner responsible for intellectual property was keen to debunk the myths surrounding copyright and make the reality clear.

Following on from last month’s launch of pan-European independent charts with the publication of the 2011 Top 20 for both radio airplay and digital downloads, IMPALA and Nielsen continue their partnership with the release of airplay and download charts for the first quarter of 2012.

In the context of the American musicians’ unions coming out this week in support of the Universal/EMI deal, it is worth noting that the International Musicians Union FIM took a strong stance against the Universal/EMI merger more than a month ago

The European Commission today announced that it has approved Sony/ATV’s attempt to purchase EMI’s publishing arm. This follows an extension of the initial Phase 1 investigation, during which Sony submitted and then revised an offer of remedies in a bid to deal with the problems cited by the European regulator, who said it had serious doubts about the merger.

Removal of private copying remuneration would be detrimental not only to rightholders, but also to manufacturers and consumers, according to a new study published by Compass Lexecon.

Merlin agrees settlement of infringement claim with Sirius.

IMPALA welcomes the announcement by Antonio Vitorino of the launch of the mediation process on private copying.

British Labour MEP from London, Mary Honeyball, hosted a dinner in the Members’ Salon of the European Parliament Wednesday, 28 March 2012. This evening was an opportunity for key EU officials and parliamentarians, as well as EU member states’ representatives, to get a better understanding of the music sector and to exchange views on the experiences and challenges faced by of some of Europe’s most innovative entrepreneurs, and independent music companies.

Late Friday, the European Commission confirmed its decision to launch a detailed investigation into the acquisition of EMI recordings by Universal. This was expected, but the Commission’s statement sets out its reasons for taking this decision – information previously not available.