News from ECSA: September 2023

At SoundTrackFest, in the frame of Roma Film Music Festival, which takes place from 30 September to 8 October in Rome, Italy, ECSA will be participating in a workshop and roundtable discussion. On 5 October, the informative workshop “What can ECSA do for you?” takes place. This will be followed by a roundtable on the same day, named “Rights and Wrongs: Getting your ‘rights’ without wrongs” with ECSA Board Member Luis Ivars, ECSA Secretary General Marc du Moulin, and lawyer Andrea Miccichè (President of IMAIE). Find the full programme below.

On 29 September, ECSA Secretary General Marc du Moulin participated in two panels at film and media music conference Soundtrack_Zurich, Switzerland. During the panel “Video Games + Buy-outs”, Marc, Dr. Oliver Schmid (SUISA), Joel Schoch (games composer), Alice Ruppert (SGDA, games producer), and moderators Lysander Gelewski & Olav Lervik zoomed in on contractual practices for music composers in video games, such as buy-out contracts. On the same day, Marc participated in the panel “AI and Music Rights” together with Dr. Noah Martin (SUISA), Michael Künstle (composer), Matteo Pagamici (composer) and moderator Martin Skalsky (filmmaker and composer). This panel highlighted the intersections between AI, music, and authors rights, and tackled the ins and outs of the EU AI Act. We thank Soundtrack_Zurich for a well-organised and insightful conference!

On 26 September, first.wave, a program designed to initiate the sustained growth in the inclusion, employment, and education of female and non-binary music producers, organised a first roundtable in a series of discussions on “Designing a Diverse & Inclusive Music Industry”. During the roundtable, policies and strategies to reach a more inclusive music industry were discussed with Alfons Karabuda (IMC President, ECSA Honorary President), Margaret McGuffin (Music Publishers Canada CEO), and Eva Karman Reinhold (IMPALA Board Member, Smilodon CEO). The next session in the series takes place on 4 October 2023, with among others Anna Lidell (Autor Chair, KODA Vice-Chair). Sign up via the button below to join via Zoom.

On 20 September, ECSA Board Member, APCOE Chair, and NOPA Chair Ole Henrik Antonsen appeared on Norway’s TV debate program NRK Dagsnytt 18 to talk about NOPA’s plea for stronger AI regulations in Norway. Norwegian Performing Rights Society TONO has recently called on the Norwegian government to address composers' rights in light of AI development. However, substantial progress has yet to be made. Recently, NOPA has been proactive in the media to raise awareness of this issue. Watch the full interview, in Norwegian, via the link below, from 51:16.

On 14 September, the European Parliament’s (EP) CULT Committee published 157 amendments made by MEP’s (Members of the European Parliament) to the draft report of MEP Ibán García Del Blanco’s (Spain, S&D) on “Cultural diversity and the conditions for authors in the European music streaming market”. The EP’s CULT Committee vote is expected to take place on 24 October, before a final EP plenary vote before the end of the year.

On 28 August, the European Parliament’s (EP) CULT Committee published its draft report on the implementation of the Creative Europe Programme 2021-2027. The rapporteur of the report, Member of European Parliament Massimiliano Smeriglio (Italy, S&D), aims to assess and evaluate the implementation of the current Creative Europe programme (2021 to 2027). Creative Europe is the EU’s direct fund providing support to the cultural and creative sectors.

Throughout the month of October, the Forum de la Création Musicale is offering a varied program of concerts with the LOOP Festival. The festival illustrates the diversity of musical aesthetics present in Belgium and abroad. The festival takes over several locations in Brussels for a rich and diverse program of contemporary music.

On 15 September, ECSA Board Member Ole Henrik Antonsen and Tech & AI Working Group Chair Arriën Molema took part in the panel “AI and music creators: for better or worse” at by:Larm, a music conference in Oslo, Norway. Together with Inger Elise Mey (TONO) and songwriter Signe Eide, they discussed the intersections between AI and authors’ rights, how big tech profits from creators’ works, and how creators can use AI to their advantage. 

Classical and art music conference and showcase festival Classical:NEXT opens its search for the best, brightest and most forward-looking artists, projects, and conference topics from all corners of the classical and art music world! Until 6 October, all music professionals are invited to submit their proposal for a live performance, conference session or project pitch for Classical:NEXT 2024, taking place from 14–17 May in Berlin, Germany. The proposals will be considered by an independent jury of international experts.

A new documentary on music streaming is now available on Franco-German TV channel ARTE. The documentary, called Comment le streaming a mangé la musique (“How streaming consumed music”) examines the world of online music and is based on Les Jours’ previous investigation on the same topic, which they published in a series called La fête du stream. The documentary, directed by Sophian Fanen and Benoit Pergent, zooms in on the digital transformation of how we consume music since the 1990s. It is available in French, German, English, Spanish, Polish and Italian via ARTE’s website.