France’s Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music (SACEM) has signed a landmark licensing agreement jointly with Universal Music Publishing (UMPG) and YouTube.
The deal establishes terms of use for the music of SACEM’s repertoire and UMPG’s Anglo-American repertoire in videos distributed by YouTube throughout 127 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia – including user-generated content (UGC).
The agreement is entered into via SACEM and UMPG’s Direct European Administration and Licensing (DEAL) initiative, which works to create a unique and comprehensive platform of joint technical and operational resources for multi-territorial music licensing across all forms of media, which includes this deal with YouTube.
According to a statement from the parties, the deal ‘facilitates greater transparency, coordination, and data-sharing between the organizations while ensuring equitable compensation for rights holders who are entitled to a share of the platform’s revenues’.
The music of UMPG’s songwriters and composers who are affiliated with other European collecting societies will remain subject to licensing arrangements made by those societies.
Jean-Noël Tronc, CEO of SACEM said: “SACEM is proud to be the first authors’ society in the world to have signed an agreement of this scale with YouTube, the world’s leading digital platform of music videos. This contract bears witness to our commitment to increasing both the visibility of works and the remuneration of our members with a major partner, YouTube, the number one vector for discovering works on the internet.”
Zach Horowitz, Chairman & CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group said: “Universal Music Publishing is pleased to have concluded this agreement with YouTube through DEAL for the proper remuneration of the composers we are privileged to represent. The digital market can only flourish if creators receive fair remuneration delivered through efficient and innovative licensing solutions. We are proud to be at the forefront of that effort with our partners at SACEM.”
Robert Kyncl, VP, Global Head of Content Partnerships at YouTube (pictured) said: “Thanks to partnerships such as this, YouTube is proving to be a launch pad for both established artists and the next generation of music talent around the world. We’re delighted to have reached an agreement with SACEM and UMPI, which, alongside our existing collection society deals covering over 40 countries, is great news for songwriters, composers, artists and the music industry as a whole.”
SACEM is the not-for-profit French collective management organization responsible for monitoring, collecting, and distributing royalties to its affiliated songwriters and composers. SACEM’s vocation is to represent and defend the interests of authors, composers and publishers of music. It has almost 145,000 French and foreign members and represents a worldwide repertoire over 62 million musical works.Music Business Worldwide
