Tag: music industry

The European Commission should work to develop a Collective Rights Management model that is "fit for the digital era and will enable everyone to access music in a legitimate, transparent and efficient manner," writes Nicolas Galibert, chair of the International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP) and president of Sony ATV Music Publishing France.  

The European Parliament last week backed an increase in copyright protection for musicians from 50 to 70 years, in a move aimed at ensuring longer royalties for artists and record companies. But the move caused concern among consumer and green groups, who called on member states to reject the proposal.

European composers and songwriters threatened yesterday (3 July) to "play havoc" with the music market by withdrawing their catalogues if the European Commission goes ahead with its plan to introduce more competition between collecting societies.

The European Commission has cleared, for a second time and without imposing any 'remedies', the joint venture between music companies Sony and BMG, which had been set aside by the European Court of Justice in 2006.

The European Court of First Instance has overturned the Commission's 2004 decision to clear the merger of the music units of Sony and BMG Bertelsmann, putting future mergers in the music industry in question.