Warner Chappell Music (WCM) and ICE have announced an expansion of their long-standing partnership. As part of this, WCM is set to move all online processing from other European digital licensing administration partners to ICE.
The news follows a thorough 10-month review, assessing both existing providers and new entrants to the market to identify the solution that will best serve WCM’s songwriters, composers and producers. The extended partnership will see ICE offer best-in-class services to WCM, giving the music publisher more autonomy in the way it licenses digital services across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and beyond.
Since launching its multi-territory digital licensing initiative in 2006, WCM has operated with multiple partners and the move to consolidate with a single service provider reflects the strength of their partnership and the benefits ICE is able to deliver at scale for its partners.
Guy Moot, Co-Chair and CEO of Warner Chappell Music
“At Warner Chappell, we’re always striving to ensure that our songwriters, composers and producers are paid accurately and quickly. In today’s digital music market, there are vast volumes of data to process, and we need to work with a reliable partner to ensure we’re delivering best-in-class service. ICE has always proved to be an innovative and flexible partner, so we’re delighted to expand our relationship with them.”
Daniel Lang, VP, International Digital Licensing & Society Relations, Warner Chappell Music
“We’ve decided to expand our partnership with ICE after conducting a comprehensive review of service providers on the market. Based both on its existing track record and its future plans, it was clear that ICE should be our partner of choice. There are huge technology demands with constantly evolving and fast-moving online uses of music, so it’s vital to have a partner that is agile, leads with industry-first solutions, and operates on a large scale. I’d also like to thank the stellar account management team at ICE, who have worked tirelessly on our business, and been crucial to the success of our partnership to date.“
Ben McEwen, Chief Commercial Officer, ICE
“We’re delighted that Warner Chappell has selected ICE as its sole PEDL partner, and the recognition that represents the superior service levels and innovation ICE offers.
We are focused on ensuring the greatest songwriter returns on the market in everything we do.
We continue to invest to ensure we have the most accurate data and most effective systems. Specifically in the area of online processing, we have led the way with initiatives such as multi-stage invoicing to maximize claims, alongside many other innovations in matching, reporting and quality assurance.
It’s a significant decision and we’re committed to continuing to deliver the best services on the market.”
About Warner Chappell Music (WCM)
Warner Chappell Music, the global music publishing company of Warner Music Group, is home to a wide array of legendary songwriters and a rich catalog of contemporary hits and influential standards. With offices in more than 20 countries, Warner Chappell provides deep expertise across a range of creative services and the most innovative opportunities for songwriters and copyright holders. Warner Chappell, which has a history dating back more than 200 years, currently publishes and administers music from A-Lin, Angèle, Anderson .Paak, Aya Nakamura, Bruno Mars, Caetano Veloso, Capital Bra, Celeste, Cole Porter, Dave, David Bowie, Duran Duran, El Guincho, Fraser T. Smith, Gamble and Huff, Gene Autry Music Group catalog, George Gershwin, George Michael, Grateful Dead, Jesse & Joy, Jhayco, Justin Tranter, Kacey Musgraves, Katy Perry, Kevin Yi, Kool & the Gang, Led Zeppelin, Lin Xi, Lizzo, Madonna, Marco Antonio Solís, MNEK, Oscar Holter, Pablo Alborán, Pop Smoke, Quevedo, Quincy Jones, RAYE, Saweetie, Stormzy, Summer Walker, Ta-You Lo, Thomas Rhett, Tones and I, and Wyman Wong, among many others.
Follow Warner Chappell Music on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok.
About ICE
ICE is the music technology company created by rightsholders, 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 €4 billion back to rightsholders.
The ICE copyright database holds over 53 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
Alex Jacob
Communications Team, Warner Music Group
Tel: +44 758 3118270