Belgium rights society SABAM joins licensing hub ICE Core

By Emmanuel Legrand

Belgium's rights society SABAM, the Belgian Association of Authors, Composers and Publishers, has joined the ICE Core licensing hub, for the online licensing of its repertoire to digital service providers. 

  ICE is a joint venture between the UK's PRS for Music, Sweden's STIM and Germany's GEMA. It also handles repertoire from various music publishers such as Concord, peermusic and Downtown and rights societies such as Ireland's IMRO and the USA's BMI.

  SABAM CEO Carine Libert said the choice of ICE Core was made after "an exceptionally thorough process to ensure we achieved the solution that gives our members the most royalties for the online use of their works. In joining the ICE Core, we’re certain we have that.”

  She added: “Selecting ICE as our partner for multi-territorial digital licensing reflects our approach in being strategic about delivering the maximum value for our authors.”

Sharing systems and resources

  The ICE Core license was launched in 2016, and has now licensing agreements in place with more than 50 services, including most recently TikTok and Triller, across a scope of more than 130 territories. ICE has a nine-strong licensing team, and provides its clients with dedicated resources focusing on data analysis and insight.

  ICE CEO Thorsten Sauer said that offering ICE Core rights societies rights representation alongside their national, broadcast and member services, "makes a real difference in what societies provide their members." He added: “Sharing system, resource and investment costs amongst multiple customers is the most efficient model for rights holders, and ultimately means more money is returned to creators. We’re committed to supporting them in delivering for creators.”