Canadian collecting society SOCAN has joined One Arena, the live royalties network founded by GEMA, becoming its first member outside Europe.
SOCAN is the network’s eighth member, alongside GEMA (Germany), SUISA (Switzerland & Liechtenstein), AKM (Austria), Buma-Stemra (Netherlands), KODA (Denmark), TONO (Norway) and OSA (Czech Republic).
The agreement means One Arena will now track major concerts in Canada, while SOCAN will gain access to international live performance and royalty information shared by the network’s other members.
“One Arena’s strength lies in the expertise and commitment of all the collecting societies involved," said GEMA CEO Dr Tobias Holzmüller. "Together, we’re building greater transparency and making it easier for songwriters and artists to understand how royalties are generated by their international live performances. We’re delighted to welcome SOCAN into our network; this will enable us to draw on SOCAN’s expertise in the Canadian market and support even more rightsholders in the future through One Arena.”
One Arena helps us to track our members’ performances abroad more efficiently, with a level of transparency that is welcomed in the live performance sector
Jennifer Brown, SOCAN
Founded by GEMA, One Arena is a collaboration between CMOs that tracks major concerts across its members’ markets, produces royalty forecasts and monitors the status of licensing and payments.
The network aims to give rightsholders a clearer picture of what they can expect to earn from international live performances, when payments are likely to arrive and how royalties have been calculated based on individual concert reports.
“For songwriters, a concert doesn’t end with the final note," said Jennifer Brown, CEO of SOCAN. "When it comes to international performances in particular, the path to collecting and distributing royalties is often long and has information gaps. One Arena helps us to track our members’ performances abroad more efficiently, with a level of transparency that is welcomed in the live performance sector. We’re delighted to be part of this network that is putting the needs and royalties of members first.”
