APRA AMCOS signs Pan-Asian licensing deal with Peermusic

A new media licensing and administration and Pan-Asian digital agreement has been signed by APRA AMCOS and global independent music publisher Peermusic.

Under the new agreement, Peermusic’s catalogue will be represented by the Australasian collection society on a multi-territory, non-exclusive basis throughout Asia, Japan excluded, in licensing its catalogue to digital music services.

Peermusic’s President of Asia Pacific and Strategic Markets Mary Megan Peer said: “At a time when digital music use is growing in all countries in this region, licensing our catalogue to digital services is increasingly important.

“By leveraging the APRA AMCOS team’s experience in digital licensing and strong back-end systems, we expect to be able to license and collect more efficiently, creating a better experience for licensees and increased income for our writers.”

The deal widens the scope of APRA AMCOS’ existing Pan-Asian digital licensing and administration initiative that was launched last year in the wake of an agreement with Universal Music Publishing.

Brett Cottle, CEO of APRA AMCOS, said: “Users are consuming music in more ways than ever before and we are working hard to ensure songwriters are fairly compensated for the value their work creates ­no matter where, how or when it is delivered or consumed.

“We’re excited to increase the opportunity for Peermusic’s diverse catalogue to reach audiences throughout Asia as new legal mobile and online music and audio-visual platforms gain traction. In many cases Asia is at the forefront of these new digital services and we are proud to be the trusted partner throughout the region for both Universal and now Peermusic. We look forward to bringing other publishers into the fold.”