APRA AMCOS, Peermusic Announce Pan-Asian Digital Licensing Deal

Australasian collecting societies APRA AMCOS have struck an agreement to represent peermusic in licensing the independent music publisher’s digital rights throughout Asia, excluding Japan.

Under the new agreement, announced Wednesday (July 30), APRA AMCOS will represent peermusic’s catalog on a multi-territory, non-exclusive for licensing its repertoire to digital music services.

Both parties are confident the arrangement will help facilitate more business -- and generate greater revenue -- at a time when the digital business (driven particularly by smartphones) is showing signs of growth across the region. 

Right now, says Mary Megan Peer, peermusic’s president of Asia-Pacific and strategic markets, licensing “our catalog to digital services is increasingly important. By leveraging the APRA AMCOS team’s experience in digital licensing and strong back-end systems, we expect to be able to license and collect more efficiently, creating a better experience for licensees and increased income for our writers.”

The new agreement broadens the scope of APRA AMCOS’s existing Pan-Asian digital licensing and administration initiative, which was announced in July 2013 following a "groundbreaking" deal with Universal Music Publishing.

 Click to Hear
 Palace Hot 100 Radio Mix "Monday Night Heater"
That UMP arrangement follows similar pacts struck in recent years with French authors’ collecting society SACEM for Europe to streamline international rights clearance procedures for music.

“Users are consuming music in more ways than ever before and we are working hard to ensure songwriters are fairly compensated for the value their work creates – no matter where, how or when it is delivered or consumed,” adds APRA AMCOS CEO Brett Cottle in the statement. “We’re excited to increase the opportunity for peermusic’s diverse catalogue to reach audiences throughout Asia as new legal mobile and online music and audiovisual platforms gain traction.”