Written Statement by European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel for the Creators Conference 2023
It is our great pleasure to share a written statement on the Creators Conference (21 March 2023) by Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.
Dear participants,
It is my pleasure to welcome you all to this year’s Creators Conference!
My sincere gratitude goes to the organisers, the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance, who year after year bring creators, representatives of the music industry, and EU policymakers together to exchange views on topical issues affecting the sector.
The Creators Conference provides a pan-European platform to discuss subjects that are of key relevance for composers, creators, and authors: I am thinking of artistic freedom of expression, author’s rights, new economic models, international cooperation, and fair remuneration, to just name a few. And this year’s event will put music streaming, new technologies and contractual practices in the spotlight. All these are topics particularly relevant for our EU level policy work on music, under the Music Moves Europe initiative.
The European music sector is facing acute challenges, from the intensification of the digital transformation, the need for environmental sustainability, the legitimate aspiration for more diversity, fair remuneration of creators, competition from outside Europe, the lack of data and transparency, and the list goes on. This makes the creators’ conference even more important.
As EU Commissioner responsible for Research, innovation, education, and culture, I am strongly committed to supporting the music sector and addressing its challenges. We are in this together, and you can rest assured of my support.
Let me highlight a few recent initiatives carried out under my responsibility to support the sector’s development, its recovery, and its resilience.
First, I am delighted that the music sector, including music composers, creators, and authors, is benefiting from the Creative Europe programme: From 2014-2020, the programme provided EUR 98 million, while EUR 57 million have already been allocated in 2021-2022. This funding has supported many excellent cross-border cooperation projects, networks, and platforms, and it has contributed to the development of the sector and the promotion of European music.
Second, we are funding three research projects under the Horizon Europe programme, for a total budget of EUR 9 million. They look into streaming, algorithms, and competitive music ecosystems; for instance, the “Faire MusE” project investigates the biases of the existing streaming environment, exploring the domination of online platforms, their algorithms, and their impact on the exposure of European music. And the “OpenMusE” project focuses on policy aspects and aims to place European music ecosystems on a more competitive footing by providing the data required for evidence-based policies.
Third, we will launch this year a study on the discoverability of European content online, with a particular focus on music streaming. This study will help us understand the challenges of discoverability faced by European music in the digital environment and explore potential solutions.
These are just a few examples, and my message for you is that support to the music sector is high on my services’ agenda in 2023. It is our ambition to explore solutions together with the sector for the challenges it faces and to ensure that the sector can thrive in a fair and sustainable way.
Once again, I would like to thank the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance for organising this event, and I wish you all a successful and productive conference. I am confident you will all be able to use this opportunity to exchange views and ideas, learn from one another, and collaborate towards a bright future for the European music sector.
All the best for the Creators Conference!
Mariya Gabriel