Arriën Molema

Presidency Candidate - Arriën Molema

Buma-Stemra

 

 

Dear colleagues and friends,

My name is Arriën Molema, and I am honored to announce my candidacy for President of CIAM. With your support, I am eager to lead our organization into a new era of growth and influence. As a songwriter, artist, board member, IP lawyer, and current Vice-President of CIAM, I have seen firsthand the challenges and opportunities that creators face today. From my early days of releasing music on CD to later releases on streaming platforms, I understand the struggle: it’s never been tougher to earn a living as a creator. In a world where AI, streaming, and platforms like TikTok are rapidly changing the landscape, surviving as a creator has become a huge challenge—one where technology, industry, and AI are not necessarily on our side.

The global voice of music creators must be heard loud and clear on these issues and in places where decisions about remuneration, copyright, culture, and technology are made. Without creators, there is no music; without music, there is no music industry. We must ensure that creators are front and center in every conversation that affects our future. Our strength lies in our unity. By leveraging our collective knowledge and fostering cooperation among creators from around the world, we can achieve great things. Our partner alliances are crucial to this mission, and I am committed to supporting and strengthening these alliances. We must also expand our reach to support creators in every corner of the globe, including those in territories where our presence is not yet at its full potential.

Important is that we must not let the next generation of creators face the future alone. They face unique challenges, from low income and mental health issues, to barriers to entry caused by a lack of equity and diversity. CIAM has the power to bring these issues to the forefront and advocate for solutions on a global level. I’ve worked on these issues over the last couple of years as chair of the Equity&Diversity working group, and by organizing the first CIAM women writingcamp.

Together, we can make a difference and have our united voices shape the future of the music industry. I am ready to put my skills and knowledge to work and ensure fair remuneration for creators worldwide, regardless of region, genre, age, or career phase.

It is up to us to fight for copyright laws worldwide that ensure creator-vested remuneration.

It is up to us to build a solid community of creators worldwide.

It is up to us to advocate for cultural diversity in music to strengthen societies and creators.

And it is up to us to ensure creators are able to make a living out of doing what they love to do most: make music and inspire people on an emotional level.

Thank you for your trust and support.

Bio

Arriën (42) is a reward-winning artist and songwriter from the Netherlands, an advocate for creators and artists, and has a law-degree in IP-law. He studied guitar, Philosophy, and IP-law at the conservatory and universities in the Netherlands. He has released multiple

(gold and platinum rewarded) records, toured through many different countries (e.g. Canada, South-Africa, Japan, the Netherlands), and composes for TV-shows and movies and has multiple synch-placements.

Nowadays his focus lies, next to music, on advocating for creators and artists. He was vice-chair of BumaStemra, founded and chairs the Dutch Songwriters Society (BAM! Popauteurs), was a boardmember at ECSA, and is Vice-President of CIAM. His skills and competencies lie in involving the next generation of creators, in ensuring the position of creators in the developments of new technologies like blockchain and AI, in cultural policy and it’s place in society, and in implementing good governance policies.

Positions:

Current:

  • Songwriter, producer, artist
  • CIAM Vice-President
  • BAM! Popauteurs (Dutch Songwriter Society) chair
  • Sena (neigbouring rights society) Member of the Members Council
  • Popcoalition boardmember (a Dutch coalition of organizations in popmusic and dance, meant to lobby the government and instigate pop-related research and studies)
  • HKU (University of the Arts) Supervisory boardmember

Past:

  • 2013-2023 Boardmember and vice-chair of Buma/Stemra
  • 2019-2022 Boardmember of ECSA (European Composers and Songwriters Alliance)