Synchs boost French music publishing revenues (Part 2)

(This story was originally published in One Movement for Music, Issue 10)

A 2010-2011 CSDEM study made among its members by global research and accountancy firm KPMG, based on figures supplied by 53 of its members, showed that their overall revenues reached €196m in 2011 (up 3.6% from 2010), with majors accounting for 80% of that amount.

Rights collected by authors' society SACEM/SDRM represented 64% of overall revenues (€126m), up 2% on the previous year, with the increase in performance rights (€78m, up from €73m) more than compensating the drop in mechanical income (€43m, down from €47m).

At €51m, non SACEM-related income represented about 25% of the turnover, up 13%, thanks mainly to a growth in synchronization revenues (€31m, up 31%). Revenues from the sale of sheet music represented 9% of total revenues and were slightly down at €17m.

Local repertoire accounted for 19% of rights collected (€24m), while the origin of rights is split 42%-58% between the European Union and the rest of the world, with the US taking a major share.

CSDEM's Angélique Dascier

The total number of works owned by the companies taking part in the survey reached 6.9 million in 2011, against 6.1 million in 2010. The significant rise is due to an increasing number of non-French works represented by CSDEM members.

The amount of advances paid to authors, composers and catalogue owners by music publishers reached €9.2m in 2011, down 6% from 2010. Of that amount, 22% was allocated to new talent, 64% to confirmed authors and 14% for international catalogues (up from 7% a year before).

These figures give a good overview of the music publishing field in France, although they do not cover the whole range of companies involved in the sector, explains Angélique Dascier, General Manager of the Chambre Syndicale De l’Edition Musicale (CSDEM), the French music publisher's association. “These are economic indicators of the sector,” she says. A new study is underway covering 2013.

[This piece was part of a series on the French Music Market. Other stories include:

French music market bounces back

French music publishers grow market with pro-active behaviour 

Facts and figures about the French music market

Mature French radio market relies of tight playlists
Ten tips to break the French market]