Google Play Music first to sign with ICE, the new music licensing and processing service
ICE, the new music licensing and rights royalty processing service representing more than 250,000 songwriters, publishers and composers, announces its first licence agreement with Google Play Music.
This agreement with Google Play Music is evidence of the significant progress made by ICE which follows five years investment and development by its three European collective management organisation (CMO) shareholders.
PRS for Music (UK), STIM (Sweden) and GEMA (Germany) have built ICE together to provide an integrated licensing and royalty processing service with a goal of improving the efficiency of the music industry and supporting the growth of the multi-territory music market.
ICE will process online music usage using a single matching engine attached to the most comprehensive copyright database in Europe. This means not only that unnecessary processing will be eliminated, but also that disputed claims will be significantly reduced for the majority of European online music usage. Disputes are a major problem impacting music services and this is an important step forward in resolving this issue.
Google Play Music, the popular streaming and digital music store, has more than 35 million songs and specially curated playlists to suit every mood and occasion. As an ICE customer, it has access to the full repertoire of PRS for Music (including the rights of MCPS and IMPEL), STIM and GEMA with more to follow, in one licence.
We are proud to have been able to work together with Google Play Music to launch the first ICE Services online music licence. ICE will make a major contribution to the Digital Single Market by simplifying pan-European licensing for digital music service providers and maximising value for rightsholders. We are delighted to mark the beginning of a revolution in the online market.
We are honoured to have been selected as the pilot digital service and are pleased to be the first licensee to sign an agreement with ICE. We look forward to building a constructive relationship with ICE and to the realization of operational efficiencies from the new platform and its benefits to composers and publishers.
Notes to editors:
ICE offers a flexible suite of services and has been developed from best-in-class technologies that will deliver unparalleled economies of scale, speed, efficiency, accuracy and business intelligence reporting. It is the fruition of a partnership that harnesses years of combined experience in collective management, servicing and which has shaped the digital market from the outset.
The benefits will be wide reaching, offering solutions to all European rightsholders. The economies of scale and increased efficiencies will deliver cost saving benefits to all. The hub offers a potential transformative benefit to new and smaller music repertoires as inclusion into the core licence enables the potential for greater access to DSPs.
ICE Licensing – providing consolidated licensing of PRS for Music, GEMA and STIM’s multi-territory online rights and options for other rights holders to join the same core licence.
ICE Operations – providing state of the art online matching and processing services, together with comprehensive multi-territorial copyright services. It currently administers the majority of the value of pan-European Online music usage on a single system, using a single, comprehensive copyright database.
Current customers: PRS for Music, STIM, GEMA*, Polaris (Koda, Teosto & TONO), SABAM* and BUMA/STEMRA.
*currently undergoing process of on-boarding copyright data into ICE.
ICE Services – providing business enhancing middle-office services including invoicing, legal support and business intelligence analysis to both ICE Licensing customers and those offering bespoke processing solutions, such as Solar, and Aresa.
About PRS for Music
PRS for Music is a world-leading music collective management organisation representing the rights of more than 165,000 talented songwriters, composers and music publishers around the globe. Headquartered in the UK, it works diligently on behalf of its members to grow and protect the value of their rights. With a focus on innovation and integrity, PRS for Music is redefining the global standard for music royalties to ensure creators are paid whenever their musical compositions and songs are streamed, downloaded, broadcast, performed and played in public. In 2022, PRS for Music collected £964m and paid out £836.2m in royalties. prsformusic.com
