SUISA Strengthens its Position in the Online Music Business

Zurich, 20 November 2014 – SUISA, the Cooperative Society of Music Authors and Publishers in Switzerland, signed an agreement last week in Brussels to join Armonia, the world's largest network of copyright societies, which enables online music services to acquire licenses to use music throughout Europe. Founded by the collecting societies Sacem (France), Sgae (Spain) and Siae(Italy), the network now represents a repertoire of more than 12 million works in 33 countries.

More bargaining power together
As a member of Armonia, SUISA can negotiate licence agreements with online service providers such as Amazon, iTunes, YouTube and Spotify together with the other collecting societies. This offers several advantages over acting alone, as SUISA's repertoire is often relatively unknown. By joining forces with Armonia, SUISA has strengthened its bargaining position over online service providers and can therefore negotiate better contracts for its members, namely composers, lyricists and publishers of music. This also benefits online service providers, as the network gives them a single point of contact for licensing a globally sought-after repertoire of musician the online segment.

Membership with Armonia only affects SUISA's front-office activities, i.e. negotiations with providers of online music services. The cooperative society will continue to handle its billing processes and data independently through its own IT infrastructure.

About SUISA
SUISA is the cooperative society for composers, lyricists and music publishers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Its 32,000 members include music professionals from all disciplines. In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, SUISA represents the music repertoire of two million authors and publishers worldwide. It grants licences to use this repertoire to more than 80,000 customers.
With approximately 200 employees in Zurich, Lausanne and Lugano, SUISA generates a turnover of some CHF 145 million. As a non-profit organisation, it distributes the proceeds from licences to music authors and publishers after deducting the administrative costs.
www.suisa.ch

About Armonia
Created at the initiative of SACEM, SGAE and SIAE, Armonia is a one-stop shop that aims to encourage the issuance of pan-European licenses. A European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG) created in 2013, Armonia represents 12.5 million works in 33 countries (EU & EFTA); it covers the repertoires of Sacem (France), Sacem Luxembourg, Sgae (Spain), Siae (Italy), Spa (Portugal), Sabam (Belgium) and Artisjus (Hungary) in Europe, as well as a bulk of Anglo-American and Latin-American works and now the works of SUISA (Switzerland).
www.armoniaonline.eu