APRA|AMCOS, Universal Music Publishing Announce PanAsian Licensing Agreement

Australasian collecting societies APRA and AMCOS today announced an agreement with international music publishing powerhouse Universal Music Publishing (“UMP”) under which APRA|AMCOS will represent UMP in licensing the latter’s digital rights throughout the Asian region.

The agreement, which is non-­‐exclusive, will potentially cover all countries within the region excluding Japan.

“Consumers in this part of the world want and need the widest possible access on safe, legal platforms to the world’s repertoire of music” said APRA|AMCOS CEO Brett Cottle, who added “this agreement is an important step in that direction and comes in direct response to pleas from digital service providers.”

UMP Executive VP Asia Pacific and Industry Affairs, Andrew Jenkins, said ” Universal is proud to be the first music publisher to enter into a multi territory licensing and administration arrangement for the Asia Pacific region and I am really excited by the potential of this groundbreaking initiative. We chose APRA|AMCOS as our trusted partner in this rapidly expanding and incredibly important market because we want our writers to be paid fast, fairly and efficiently for the use of their works. I hope other societies and publishers join us in this initiative to make licensing and administration simpler, faster and more effective for the benefit of songwriters, digital retailers and consumers”.

UMP’s move follows a similar arrangement struck with French authors’ collecting society SACEM for Europe and presages significant streamlining of international rights clearance procedures for music generally, in which UMP is playing a leading role.

Google Head of International Music Partnerships, Sami Valkonen, said in response to the announcement “Google welcomes initiatives like this that increase licensing transparency, create greater access to music for fans and make it easier to launch new music services”.

Source: APRA