AIMP debates what it means to be an independent music publisher in 2021 with the aim to modify its bylaws

By Emmanuel Legrand

What is an Indie? How can trade organisations make a determination on what is an independent music company and what is not?

  The question is not rhetorical. It was in fact a very practical question that the Association if Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) asked publicly during the recent AIMP Global Music Publishing Summit earlier this month.  

  The discussion was triggered by the recent announcement that New York-based Reservoir was going to float on NASDAQ via a SPAC, valuing the company at some $700 million. Can a publicly listed company be considered independent? How do you mark the boundaries?

Send a clear message

  Michael Eames, President of PEN Music Group and former President of AIMP between 2016 and 2018, worked then on the organisation's bylaws about what being an indie really means. AIMP bylaws had not been updated since 1977, and alongside fellow AIMP chairs Alisa Coleman and John Ozier, the organisation came with definitions that were put to its members, and adopted, at the December 2018 elections.

  “One of the things important to us is that we wanted to send a clear message that going forward that AIMP was the absolute unified voice for independent publishers in the US," said Eames.

  The definition of an independent publisher in AIMP's bylaws is the following: “An Independent Music Publisher shall be a music publisher which supports composers and songwriters in the protection and exploitation of their works through a variety of means in the United States and is neither (a) a publicly traded corporation, nor (b) operating with the direct investor funding of a publicly traded corporation (i.e. non-investor public financing such as a bank is permitted); nor (c) affiliated with any firm, company or other entity which is a substantial licensee of rights in musical compositions (a “Major Licensee”).

Quick changes in the marketplace

  "A company shall be deemed to be so affiliated with a Major Licensee if the Chapter Board shall determine that such director is an officer, director, proprietor, partner or employee of any Major Licensee, or of a firm, company or other entity which controls, is controlled by or is under common control with any Major Licensee. Any ambiguity or dispute with respect to a Director’s failure to qualify as an Independent Music Publisher shall be resolved by the Executive Committee…” 

  Eames was quick to point the irony of the situation AIMP is facing, just a few years later. “Here we are two and half years later and our current national Chair [John Ozier] is at a company going to have a NASDAQ listing in a few months. A lot has been going on since,” he said.

  Eames wrote an op-ed in Billboard on the issue. He said the intent of the op-ed was to engage AIMP membership and the independent community “to join us in that process of what is an indie publisher.”

Amend bylaws

  The “ultimate goal is to amend our bylaws to reflect what is going on in the market and our membership,” he added. A discussion will take place within the different chapters of the organisation and at executive committee level at three chapters and then at chapter board level and then, ultimately, to the overall membership.

  “AIMP membership would have to vote on definition,” said Eames. “Bylaws are a legal document and our operational manual and we need to be cautious and deliberate in how to amend our bylaws to reflect what is going on.”

  He suggested that the discussion should be public and worldwide on what is an independent publisher. He said the debate should take place in 2021. 

A common understanding

  “We will all have differing opinions and we should all be able to sort through all these issues and get common understanding of what independent publishing is,” he said.

  “We can't predict what else will happen when Reservoir is on NASDAQ. Will others follow? A great deal of investment money is flowing in our space and how are we going to deal with that? We will have to go through this process together.”