Press Release
LAUNCH OF DIGITAL MUSIC EUROPE
BRUSSELS, Belgium, November 8th 2017 – A group of leading European digital music companies today announce the launch of a new alliance, Digital Music Europe (DME).
The alliance brings together Europe’s digital music leaders including 7digital, Deezer, Qobuz, SoundCloud, Soundcharts and Spotify. Digital Music Europe will showcase and promote the success of the European digital music industry, it will serve as a resource for policy-makers, media and the digital music industry, and will advocate for policies that shape a favourable business environment for digital music.
“For a decade, European digital music companies have led the transformation of the music industry globally. Bringing these companies together to create DME is a great opportunity to highlight European leadership in this sector, inspire other European entrepreneurs and create a unique voice with policy-makers.” says Hans-Holger Albrecht, President of Digital Music Europe and CEO of Deezer.
“DME is eager to share the experience and vision of its members to contribute to policy debates shaping Europe’s Digital Single Market. We believe that policy-makers have a key role to play to support the growth of the entire music sector and enable more innovation in Europe” says Olivia Regnier, Chair of DME and Director of EU Regulatory Affairs at Spotify.
Europe has – and continues to be – a hotbed of innovation for many of the global success stories in digital music. DME member companies have helped transform the digital music landscape, enabling artists to reach ever-wider audiences, and bringing consumers radically new and compelling digital music experiences.
These same companies have also transformed the global music industry. In 2016, the recorded music market grew by 4% in Europe; the fastest rate of growth in two decades, driven primarily by the mass adoption of streaming (with 112 million users subscribing to paid streaming services across the world, growth in streaming revenue went up by more than 60%*).
Important policy debates on copyright, geo-blocking, online platforms, e-privacy, data transfers, digital contracts and taxation are underway, and DME will work with European policy-makers and others that are passionate about music to create a legislative and regulatory framework that supports the growth of digital music, and brings benefits to both artists and consumers.
*Source: Global music report 2017 published by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)
DME media contact:
Anna Tobur
anna.tobur@bm.com
+32 (0) 2743 66 10
