Pan-European licensing body ICE has clinched a new multi-territory licensing deal with SoundCloud for GEMA, STIM and PRS For Music repertoire.
The agreement encompasses SoundCloud services across Europe, including both its ad-supported and paid for subscription offerings. It also pulls together the combined repertoires of ICE partners, which, for the first time, will enable ICE partners to receive royalties when their combined 250,000 rights-holders works are used by SoundCloud.
According to ICE licensing commercial director Ben McEwen, the partnership with SoundCloud is the latest step in its bid to simplify multi-territory licensing for both rights-holders and digital services, having struck a similar deal with Google Play earlier this year.
“This is a further important milestone for ICE and its development,” McEwen told Music Week. “What we’re doing is engaging with the market and bringing in new ICE core deals to pick up where entities had had licencing in place with the likes of PRS, STIM and GEMA. This is ICE taking over from that and picking up the broader repertoire in a single license for them.”
The agreement will also see SoundCloud look to provide more insightful data to rights-holders. The service now allows users to add enhanced metadata to uploaded content; the result being that ICE will be able to maximise the royalties it hands over to PRS For Music, GEMA, STIM and their members.
“We’re pleased to have reached yet another agreement that enables us to continue to build a place for voracious lovers of music and all forms of creative audio content, whilst ensuring rights holders’ work is rewarded and respected,” commented Donagh O’Malley, vice president, content partnerships, SoundCloud. “The agreement with ICE adds to the growing number of deals that expand our already expansive catalogue of unique content, and strengthen our connected community of creators, listeners and curators who are fuelled by their genuine passion for music and creativity.”
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