If you’re out shopping in Luxembourg, there’s a chance music is playing in the background, even if you may not have noticed it. But have you ever stopped to consider how these musicians are getting their fair share?
Enter SACEM Luxembourg, which just fêted its 20th anniversary last year. Technically speaking, if music is being played in a public place in Luxembourg, the creators should be receiving their royalties. Part of SACEM Luxembourg’s mission, as a not-for-profit, is to have venues sign up with them and guide them to do a proper declaration of the works being played.
While this is simpler for large radio stations—RTL, for instance—it can be less obvious for shops or bars. Marc Nickts, who has headed up SACEM Luxembourg for the past 12 years, says that one person on the team is devoted to doing this, convincing these venues to pay for the rights, although he says most locations are quite understanding of it. The association has 20 different barèmes, which can take on the form of a yearly flat fee.
If a venue is organising a concert, proportional revenue is considered, and fees might depend on whether the music is the centre of the activity or just part of the background. There are additional considerations as well when it comes to bands doing cover songs of other artists. Nickts says it helps that some bands are proactively providing their set lists to the venues.
Nickts himself has been on the music scene for much longer than his current role, having performed in a death metal band for over a decade. As he’s been on the other side of gigs, he admits:
“It’s easier to criticise something when you don’t understand it. But Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) are a fair way to handle rights.”
Marc Nickts, general manager SACEM.
What’s a CMO—and why does it matter?
A CMO is a collection group that allows creators, or copyright owners, and their administrators to collect royalties based on broad usages. To be considered a CMO, certain criteria need to be fulfilled—it has to be owned and operated by those they represent (the creators), should provide for a wide range of usages, and be authorised by law in the country in which they operate.
A couple of examples include GEMA in Germany or SACEM in France (through which SACEM Luxembourg, since its start 20 years ago, has been backed).
SACEM France and SACEM Luxembourg are also members of larger international bodies, such as CISAC, the world’s largest network of its kind, which joins 225 such societies across 116 countries. Among CISAC’s mission is to serve as a “global voice to policymakers, to promote and protect authors’ rights across all repertoires,” according to its website.
Nickts argues that it’s critical for countries to work together in this domain, and they’ll often sign reciprocal agreements. Last year, SACEM Luxembourg identified Luxembourg-based artists being played in around 80 different countries, generating around €1.3 million in royalties paid to them. (Nickts adds that the €1 million mark was reached about a decade ago.)
There are over 1,800 authors and composers represented through the local association, although not all receive regular royalties, and they are part of the greater SACEM which has around 200,000 members. Luxembourg-based artists tend to get the most playtime in the Greater Region, although royalties can even come from more distant countries, Japan being one example. Around 2,000 songs are registered each year. But, of course, Nickts isn’t at liberty to reveal which artists or songs are in the top ranking, even when pressed…
EU fostering innovation
One day before EU member states unanimously approved the AI Act on 2 February, European creators and rightsholders released a joint statement encouraging them to do so, arguing that the obligations with regards to “general purpose AI models… represent a minimum basis to build on efforts to enable European creators and rights holders to ensure their rights are being respected and that authorisation is sought for the use of their content.
Doing so would foster an environment where rights and commercial freedoms are respected by simultaneously fostering the licensing of creative content to AI models – kickstarting partnership and innovation opportunities.”
Nickts says, “Europe is well-developed in CMOs, and we try to help other countries develop their own proper structures.” He adds that younger authors and composers seem to be quite well-informed about how to generate income for music.
Of course, music played online can be a bit trickier. Nickts explains that they have agreements with platforms like Spotify and YouTube but that a new text will be presented at the European Parliament which aims to provide better shares for authors and composers via online platforms. “It’s a complicated issue,” Nickts says. “The streaming income is not well balanced to the diversity of authors/composers who are on these platforms.”
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Forbes Luxembourg here.
