News

A new report by our Irish member IMRO shows that the Irish music industry contributes almost half a billion Euro to the economy and supports more than 11 500 jobs.

This report, produced by Deloitte and commissioned by the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO), was launched recently by Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys TD and Irish singer-songwriters Brian Kennedy and Luan Parle.

Some key figures of the report are that the Irish music industry:

–          contributes over €470 mn to the economy

–          supports more than 11 510 jobs in Ireland (of which 9 030 are direct and 2 480 are indirect)

–          experienced a large fall in recorded music sales from €72 mn to €33 mn per year.

The report also outlines a number of recommendations, including:

• The establishment of a Music Industry Taskforce, with representatives from Government, the business community and industry to help reinvigorate the sector and encourage collaboration;
• Appointing an IP ‘Tsar’ to consider the impact of IP and copyright legislation and enforcement in both the music and technology industries;
• The development of advanced training courses for music professionals to focus on ‘business of music’ education, particularly for early career musicians;
• Establishing a Music Office – Music Ireland – to act as a focal point for the music industry, similar to the Irish Film Board. This office would provide assistance to individuals in the music sector and those looking to enter new overseas markets; Greater collaboration between the music, tourism, gaming and technology sectors;
• Greater support for musicians, many of whom are self-employed, in accessing finance and ensuring that fiscal supports are effective and appropriately structured.

Read the full report here.

Representing over a million authors and rights holders, GESAC would like to speak out on behalf of its community, as it rightly worries about its future in light of the current copyright debate which is being overrun by false claims.

The draft report on the copyright modernisation by MEP Reda contains a large amount of threats to authors’ livelihoods. In fact, it serves the purpose of commercial operators and Internet giants rather than consumer needs and authors’ rights.

On 13 January, the renowned Music Festival Eurosonic/Noorderslag opened in Groningen (NL) with the European Border Breaker Awards (EBBA). The event is Europe’s main festival/conference for the music sector and features some 300 performances on 36 stages throughout the city, over 150 panels and some 4 000 music professionals.

In light of the Dutch presidency of the European Union this semester (1 January to 30 June 2016), and Eurosonic’s 30^th anniversary, this edition was set to attract big names. In fact, the First Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, presented the public choice award to the Latvian band Carnival Youth during the EBBA ceremony.

GESAC’s President (and CEO of our Belgian member Sabam), Christophe Depreter, attended Eurosonic where he met European Commission and Dutch Presidency officials, and participated in panels.

Brussels, 07/01/2014 – A new study published by EY (formerly Ernst & Young) shows that more than 7m Europeans are directly employed by CCIs. CCIs are the 3rd largest employer in the EU and attract young workers. Read more