Austrian collection society AKM (together with its subsidiary austro mechana), has become the latest rightsholder to directly join the ICE Core’s market-leading licensing representation for online music services.
The deal continues the exponential growth of the ICE Core, which last month smashed its record monthly distribution, passing its customers more than €102m in November alone.
Gernot Graninger, CEO, AKM “The ICE Core reflects the best licensing solution for online music services, with the best value, for our members.
We will receive services which combine market leading expertise and state-of-the-art technological systems, without our members needing to face the costs of large-scale investments.
In these times more than ever, societies need to find the right services at the right value.”
The AKM journey also reflects the range of ways that collection societies & publishers with different service needs can join the ICE Core. Initiated by a co-operation with GEMA, the German collection society, it has been a step-by-step process to develop this partnership, which now enters its next stage.
Thomas Theune, Director Online & Broadcast, GEMA “We’re glad that GEMA has been in a position to facilitate the right service for AKM’s needs and support their smooth transition. We look forward to serving other societies’ and publishers’ needs in the future.”
Ben McEwen, Chief Commercial Officer, ICE “We’re very happy to welcome AKM into the Core. The collaboration to make this happen reflects all parties working together in the interests of rightsholders, the very DNA of everyone who is part of the ICE hub.
It’s a real strength of the ICE Core that you can join as a member of any scale; new rightsholders can come in through existing ICE Core members, getting the same ICE Core rates and also benefiting from additional value-add services to meet their needs. Or, in circumstances where systems, capabilities and volumes support it, rightsholders can come in directly.
In turn, each new member enhances the collective, with the ICE Core repertoire benefiting greatly from the inclusion of additional society and publisher repertoires. “
Routes into the ICE Core include PRS’s Core Collective for Independent Publishers, and specific initiatives by GEMA, IMRO, STIM and SABAM.
About AKM
AKM and austro mechana are Collective Management Organisations. We are authorized by our members to administer their rights:
- AKM administers the performing rights, broadcasting rights and making available rights in musical works with or without text from composers, authors, their legal successors and music publishers in Austria.
- Austro mechana administers the reproduction and distribution rights (mechanical rights) in musical works with or without text from composers, authors, their legal successors and music publishers in Austria.
AKM stands for authors (A), composers (K) and music publishers (M). We are a registered cooperative with limited liability. Austro mechana is a private limited company and a subsidiary of AKM.
About ICE
ICE is the music technology company created by rightsholder, for rightsholders.
It delivers accurate and transparent royalties to Songwriters, whilst simplifying the process for DSPs, by providing Publishers and Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) with superior Licensing, Processing and Copyright services.
Representing over 330,000 rightsholders, ICE has processed trillions of online music uses from music streaming services and paid over €2.9 billion back to rightsholders since March 2016.
The market-leading ICE Core licence includes repertoire* of collection societies PRS, STIM, GEMA, IMRO, BMI, Sabam, AKM and the independent publishers Concord, Songtrust and peermusic and a range of other independent publishers represented through PRS’s Core Collective initiative.
The ICE copyright database holds over 47 million musical works.
ICE is based in the UK, Germany and Sweden.
For press enquiries please contact:
Gary Smith
Head of Marketing, ICE
Tel: +49 171 2643172
AKM Media Contact:
Susanne Lontzen
Leiterin Mitglieder & Kommunikation, AKM
Tel: +43 664 142 9803
*In line with industry practice, and depending on the society agreements, certain matching Anglo-American performing rights (e.g. for BMI, IMRO and PRS) may flow outside of this representation and may be covered by other partners.