SUISA music collections up 9.6% in 2019 to CHF176.3m

By Emmanuel Legrand

Swiss music rights society SUISA has reported collections of CHF 176.3 million (€164.2m) in 2019, up 9.6% over 2018, and distributed CHF135m to its members, CHF2.8m more than the previous year. Expenses were up 1.1% to CHF34.5m. The Zürich-based society said the good results for 2019 will benefit composers, lyricists and publishers of music, "who will receive more money from SUISA this year."

  SUISA's online collections, handled via subsidiary for cross-border online licensing SUISA Digital Licensing, grew 43.6% year-on-year, to reach CHF14.5m in 2019. Broadcasting rights were the main source of income at CHF63.6m, down 3.2% y-o-y, due to a drop in advertising revenues from traditional media. Public performance rights accounted for 37.4% of total collections at CHF 52.1m, up 17.9% y-o-y, thank to a rise in proceeds from concerts and income from background entertainment in shops or catering establishments.

Deacrese in income in 2020

  Reproduction rights were down 29% to CHF4.4m, while fair compensation revenues from the blank recording media levy were up 5.4% to CHF13.9m. International revenues were down 4.7% to CHF12.3m.

  However, SUISA expects "a massive decrease in income for the current year and next year due to the present coronavirus crisis," which will impact public performances and broadcasting rights. "Especially in this very difficult year for music professionals, SUISA’s good result is very important," said SUISA CEO Andreas Wegelin. ‘We can again distribute more money to authors and publishers of music in the current year. However, it’s already clear that we’ll see a massive decrease in income in 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis, and we also expect a bad year for most music professionals in 2021."