Universal Music Publishing Group and SACEM - Announce Name of Pan-European Licensing Model, as well as a Variety of Pan-European Deals with Major Internet Companies

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.

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, Mary J. Blige, Beastie Boys, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Paul Simon, Henry Mancini, Christina Aguilera and Linkin Park, among many others. UMPG is also a global leader in the areas of Production Music, Christian and Classical Music.

For more information, visit: www.umusicpub.com.

About Sacem

Sacem is a non-profit membership organization for managing rights and royalties of authors, composers and publishers of musical works. Its primary mission is to collect royalties and to redistribute these equitably to rights holders. Founded over 150 years ago, Sacem was the first society in the world to represent musical rights holders. It has established itself as a key international player and a driving force in rights management. Sacem counts today over 124,000 members worldwide. It manages 32 million works.


Universal Music Publishing Group Media contact
Heather Brown, Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Ph: (310) 235-4870
heather.brown@umusic.com

Sacem International Media contact
Fabienne Herenberg, in charge of international communication
Ph: 33 (0)6 84 95 29 80
fabienne.herenberg@sacem.fr