Los Angeles, CA. & Cannes, FR. (Top40 Charts/ Universal
Music Publishing Group) - Universal
Music Publishing Group (UMPG) and Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of
Music (SACEM), the French Collection Rights Society, today announced that they have named their joint model for the licensing and administration of their rights for multi territorial online and mobile exploitation in Europe. The licensing model will be named "D.E.A.L" (Direct European Administration and Licensing).
Through the agreement SACEM and SDRM (Society for the administration of mechanical right of Authors, Composers and Publishers) license and administer the online rights owned and/or controlled by UMPG together with those works from SACEM's repertoire for the above uses. Barely one year after establishing the joint model, agreements have been successfully signed for Pan-European use of UMPG's international repertoire and SACEM's repertoire with:
* Amazon EU SARL: Through this Pan-European agreement with one of the world's leading online music and entertainment retailers, SACEM licenses the use of the online rights owned and/or controlled by UMPG together with SACEM's repertoire for exploitation on the Amazon MP3 digital music service in Europe. Amazon Europe customers of the recently launched UK and future European Amazon MP3 services, who buy digital downloads, will be able to explore and enjoy music from the world's leading music publisher.
* Nokia, with regard with "Comes with Music": UMPG and SACEM have signed a Pan-European agreement with NOKIA, a major player of the mobile industry for its "Comes With Music" service. Through the agreement, SACEM licenses the use of the online rights owned and/or controlled by UMPG together with SACEM's repertoire for exploitation in Nokia's "Comes With Music" digital entertainment service.
* Spotify: Spotify offers instant access to a world of music via unique technology that enables on-demand streaming of audio content. Spotify users have unlimited access to millions of tracks from a vast music catalogue, with the opportunity to create and share playlists with each other and explore music through a wide range of discovery and social features. Spotify will be marketed as a premium daily or monthly subscription service alongside a version which is free for consumers to use and supported by advertising.
Upon making the announcement David Renzer, Chairman & CEO, Universal Music Publishing Group, commented: "We are very pleased to see significant progress in the licensing of UMPG's copyrights to various new media/digital users via our Pan European Option, now named "DEAL". Our goal continues to be to both ease the licensing process for end users, and to expand the revenue opportunities for our songwriters and artists."
"DEAL - it does what is says on the bottle! This is the place to get a deal for our repertoire," added Andrew Jenkins, Executive Vice President, International, Universal Music Publishing Group. "I'd like to congratulate the staff at SACEM for getting DEAL up and running so quickly. Thanks to Bernard, Thierry, Catherine, Claude, Michel, Caroline and Anthony we are able to announce agreements with a number of key players already."
According to Bernard Miyet, CEO and Chairman of the Sacem Management Board: "SACEM is proud to have anticipated the development of music online with the help of the new technologies and maintained our role as a unifier and a global flagship society, while losing none of our appeal for our rights holders. Thus, we designed an agreement with the leading international music publisher to help support new business models with all partners ready to respect music authors, composers and publishers."
The UMPG/SACEM agreement has made a significant contribution to establishing a coherent and efficient model for the licensing and administration of online rights in Europe, as supported by the European Commission. It allows right holders to control the administration of their rights and receive appropriate remuneration for the exploitation of their works while giving users the simple and secure access to protected works they require.
To achieve this result, SACEM and UMPG are ready to cooperate with all the stakeholders, notably other collecting societies and publishers, who share this objective. For MIDEM attendees interested in pursuing about a Pan European deal for UMPG repertoire, please contact: Catherine Kerr-Vignale at [email protected].
Elevating the best new musical talent: Sony Ericsson announces strategic partnership between PlayNow Uncut and Universal Music Publishing Group
Lund, Sweden-Sony Ericsson today announced a deal with Universal Music Publishing Group for PlayNow Uncut, its leading promotional platform for breaking emerging artists online (www.playnow-uncut.com) and via Sony Ericsson mobile phones.
Since its launch in October 2006, PlayNow Uncut (formerly known as M-BUZZ) has been the first destination for people looking for the best music experience, with videos, interviews, tracks and tour dates easily available, anytime, anywhere. The addition of Universal Music Publishing Group to the mobile music platform guarantees users access to an enormous range of top artists and introduces a content partner with the shared ambition of making good music truly accessible.
Upcoming artists such as Gavin Thorpe, Flykkiller, The Answering Machine, and Ironweed Project are already benefitting from the exposure provided by PlayNow Uncut.
The collaborative partnership offers potential as a platform for exposing new music through Sony Ericsson's marketing and sales channels and is an exciting complement to Sony Ericsson's existing music services such as PlayNow arena (the over the air music and mobile content download service) and PlayNow plus (PlayNow arena's unlimited, over-the-air music download service available to Sony Ericsson customers on phones and PCs).
The companies' collaboration will also extend to initiatives such as preloading music on mobile phones and used as the soundtrack for Sony Ericsson's MTV Awards sponsorship site, 'Fanwalk to the MTV EMAs 2008', https://www.fanwalk.tv
Gareth Carter, Content Acquisition Partner, Music, at Sony Ericsson commented, "This collaboration demonstrates the breadth and reach of Sony Ericsson's music services as well as what it can do for key emerging artists. It is great to be partnering with Universal Music Publishing Group, the leading global music publishing company."
Simon Mortimer, VP Business Development and Media, Universal Music Publishing Group commented, "The collaboration with Sony Ericsson gives a fantastic outlet for some of our very innovative young artists to reach wider audiences globally."
About PlayNow Uncut
PlayNow Uncut (previously know as M-BUZZTM) is a promotional space for breaking new and emerging artists via Sony Ericsson's product, content and marketing channels. PlayNow Uncut showcases selected, previously unreleased tracks, videos, artwork, interviews, tour dates and other artist information on Sony Ericsson mobile phones and the web at www.playnow-uncut.com. The re-naming and alignment with PlayNow opens up new channel opportunities for artists and enables the site to target consumers worldwide, including the United States of America for the first time. With an international reach, the service has always been about presenting the best new talents from around the world, whatever their style or native language. Apart from the current streaming possibilities, the highest rated and most listened to tracks will be made available for sale in the music section of PlayNow arena. For artists, this will add revenue possibilities to the already extensive promotional benefits of appearing there. About Sony Ericsson Having sold over 100 million phones in 2007, Sony Ericsson is currently one of the five largest mobile phone manufacturers in the world. An important industry player operating in over 80 countries, our phones, accessories and PC cards are synonymous with innovation and style. With R&D sites in Europe, Japan, China, India and North America, diversity is one of the core strengths of the company. Sony Ericsson was established as a 50:50 joint venture by Sony and Ericsson in October 2001, with global corporate functions located in London. For more information about Sony Ericsson please visit www.sonyericsson.com About Universal Music Publishing Group Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is the industry's leading global music publishing operation and is part of Universal Music Group. UMPG represents music in every genre from many of the world's top songwriters and catalogs including U2, Elton John, Bernie Taupin, 50 Cent, Mariah Carey, R. Kelly, Coldplay, Nelly, Juan Gabriel, Ciara, Dave Grohl, Prince, Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5, Britney Spears, Beastie Boys, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Paul Simon, Henry Mancini, Christina Aguilera and Linkin Park, among many others. For more information, visit: www.umusicpub.com.
Universal Music Publishing Group Concludes Exclusive U.S. Publishing Administration Agreement With Notting Hill Music Publishing
Los Angeles, CA.-David Renzer, Chairman & CEO, Universal Music Publishing Group today announced that Universal has concluded a new exclusive publishing administration agreement for the U.S. music publishing affiliates of Notting Hill Music. Through the deal, UMPG will administer Notting Hill's approx 30,000 title catalogue in the U.S.
The Notting Hill Music catalogue includes songs recorded by such Artists as Beyonce, Pussycat Dolls, Snoop Dogg, Akon, Britney Spears, Outkast, Bow Wow, Christina Aguilera, Keyshia Cole, Chris Brown, Young Jeezy, Motorhead, Destiny's Child, Ne-Yo, Nelly, and Tim McGraw, among many others. Recent activity and awards in the US include hit singles from Ashanti, Danity Kane, Jim Jones & Ron Browz feat Juelz Santana, The Game, DJ Khaled, Busta Rhymes and DJ Felli Fel, as well as 2 ASCAP Pop Awards and 4 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards. Current and upcoming releases feature songs recorded by Jamie Foxx, Marques Houston, Funeral For A Friend, Earshot, Bow Wow, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Charlie Wilson, DJ Felli Fel, Christina Milian and Ashanti, to name a few.
"I have long admired the strong independent company that owners Andy McQueen, Dave Loader and Peter Chalcraft have built, said David Renzer, Chairman/ CEO of UMPG. We're looking forward to working closely with Peter and his U.S. team in providing them excellent administrative service with our strong U.S. admin team and through such innovations as RoyaltyWindow ( UMPG's online royalty portal). We're also looking forward to helping to pursue all opportunities for revenue growth through assisting Notting Hill's existing team with film /tv / new media licensing efforts, as well as aggressively pursuing all other revenue streams, including digital.
"We are excited to have signed our deal with Universal Music Publishing Group and I'm very much looking forward to working with their team here in the US to assist us in maximizing all revenue possibilities for our songwriters and artists," said Notting Hill's President, Peter Chalcraft.
Notting Hill Music Publishing has offices in London and Los Angeles, and was originally founded in 1990 as the international repertoire division of the Japanese Nippon Television Music Corporation. It became Notting Hill Music following a management buyout in 1993. Notting Hill Music opened their Los Angeles offices in 2003. Since that time, Notting Hill Music has become a leading international independent music publisher with an extremely active stable of writers, producers and artists on their roster.
UMPG secured the administration agreement with Notting Hill Music in a highly competitive negotiation. The Notting Hill Music catalogs were previously self-administered in North America.
About Universal Music Publishing Group
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is the industry's leading global music publishing operation and is part of Universal Music Group. UMPG represents music in every genre from many of the world's top songwriters and catalogs including U2, Elton John, Bernie Taupin, 50 Cent, Mariah Carey, R. Kelly, Coldplay, Nelly, Juan Gabriel, Ciara, Dave Grohl, Prince, Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5, Britney Spears, Beastie Boys, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Paul Simon, Henry Mancini, Christina Aguilera and Linkin Park, among many others. For more information, visit: www.umusicpub.com.
