Building the global unified voice for music creators at Warsaw CIAM Executive Committee meeting

14 Jun 2018

Imogen Heap presents Creative Passport and her new technology for creators

CIAM, the internationally recognised global voice of music creators, gathered composers, songwriters and artists from around the world in Warsaw for its Executive Committee meeting on June 2^nd-4^th. The Executive Committee (Exco) is a group of creators and representatives from societies that establish strategy and coordinate on continental, country and local levels. Organised by Polish music society ZAiKS, the meeting was the first led by North American songwriter, producer and CIAM President Eddie Schwartz.

Representing over 500,000 professional creators, the council is adapting to new changes in the music sector. CIAM 3.0 is the response to these evolutions: industry consolidation, vertical integration, the growth of independent labels, increasing creators self-producing their music and changes to publishing. These fluctuations have led to new intermediaries, placed between creators themselves and audiences. It has also led to a generation that have adapted to new platforms, focusing on promotion and visibility. The Exco examined these and how parts of the world are responding, such as Cape Verde with negotiating with their digital platforms or Latin America with its strength of independent labels.

To discuss her viewpoint and adapting to these evolutions, renowned artist and composer Imogen Heap came to Poland to discuss the Creative Passport. It is a global solution for a shared ecosystem within the music sector, gathering together data in one place. It aspires to allow creators to share information, but also generate business opportunities that may not have been as evident. Services can connect to the layered database, generating one ID for a creator that connects to all organisations or intermediaries. It could open a marketplace to find rights to play songs on services or guide young musicians to navigate through the world of publishers or performing rights organisations, for example.

Aside from new technologies, the Executive Committee reinforced one of its primary strengths. For music creators on a local level, CIAM had established alliances in North America (MCNA), Africa (PACSA), Latin America (ALCAM) and Asia-Pacific (APMA). This also includes ECSA in Europe. In Warsaw, each region reviewed specific issues that spanned the U.S. Music Modernization Act; broadcast and cinema licensing in Japan; safe harbour exceptions and content quotas in Australia; artist and CIAM Ambassador Lokua Kanza’s support leading to upcoming changes to private copying in Senegal legislation to benefit the country’s music creators; and a focus group across Latin American countries to build a comparative document on needs in the music industry in the region.

These individual regional voices were further united at the meeting in Warsaw with the signing of CIAM’s first global Memorandum of Understanding to increase mutual cooperation between the continental alliances and CIAM.

Reflecting the Women@CISAC gender equality panel at the 2018 CISAC General Assembly, CIAM drew attention to inequality in the music sector. Discussions reviewed Australia’s approach to resolving gender equality, which included focusing on the nomenclature in using the term “equity”, as well as ASCAP’s methods of elevating women into important leadership roles within the collective management organisation. CIAM agreed to focus more deeply on the issue by researching various studies already undertaken to find solutions and gaps to fill.

One of the primary initiatives of CIAM is to help bring transparent, ethical practices to the music ecosystem through Fair Trade Music. The project has become a movement in Latin America, thanks to a strong independent music culture that is established in countries like Brazil where 80% of phonographic production is independent, and continues to grow globally.

The CIAM Executive Committee meeting concluded by looking forward into upcoming key dates for the council. The CIAM General Assembly will take place in Mexico City on November 5^th and 6^th, 2018. The next Executive Committee meeting is expected for the morning of the 5^th.

The 2019 CIAM Executive Committee will take place on January 29^th and 30^th in a location to be determined.