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European musicians meet with Vice-President Almunia to discuss artists’ rights

Posted by Kelvin on Jun 22, 2011 at 10:26

Last week a group of artists and music professionals from Belgium, France and the United Kingdom met with Vice-President Almunia of the European Commission at the initiative of Younison to present their joint Call for Action to protect the rights of European music artists.

The delegation recommended that artists be able to ‘shop’ between collecting societies to see which one offers the best service to suit their needs and also stressed the need for new rules to enable the licensing of full music repertoires across the EU while respecting individual artists’ rights and encouraging new business models.

Younison sought a meeting with Commissioner Almunia based on a speech he gave in July 2010, when he urged collecting societies to improve the way they operate. He said, “Collecting societies serve a vital role but the way they manage licensing agreements needs to change. The fragmented national monopoly model and the de facto allocation of customers can no longer stand in their current form. Unregulated monopolies are not a great solution,"

Kelvin Smits said “Younison welcomes the no-nonsense and zero-tolerance approach expressed by Commissioner Almunia regarding the cartel-like business practices conducted by many national collecting societies which hamper the market. Younison and Commissioner Almunia have joint aims - to oversee the development of the current anachronistic system into an efficient and transparent environment. We look forward to further collaboration to ensure the cultural diversity of Europe, enabling both young and established artists to continue creating their art.

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