Sacem has reported record-breaking results for 2022.
With the end of the Covid crisis, which saw Sacem's general royalty collections fall by nearly €350 million, last year there was a recovery in licensing income at the Paris-based collection society.
Online now accounts for more than a third of Sacem's collected revenues for its members, creators and publishers represented through mandates.
During 2022, the amounts allocated to all rights-holders reached €1.056 billion, up 19% on 2021. Collections reached a record level of €1.413 million, up 34% on 2021.
For the second year in a row, the digital sector was the leading source of royalties (in common with PRS For Music), surging 38% compared with 2021, to €492.6m. Sacem processed 275 trillion streams and downloads in 2022.
More than 390,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers around the world were paid for the distribution of their works.
Sacem reduced its management cost to 11.65% of income from 14.8% in 2021. At the same time, Sacem limited the cost-to-income ratio on rights-holders to 10.4%.
These results demonstrate our ability to adapt and strengthen our expertise in a highly competitive and rapidly changing sector
Cécile Rap-Veber
Over the course of 2022, almost 5,000 grants were paid out jointly by Sacem and the Comité du Coeur Sacem as part of the emergency fund for authors and publishers in serious difficulty, for a total amount of €3.9 million.
Sacem continued to strengthen its grassroots activities and pursued its commitment to the dissemination and promotion of creation and music: 3,375 projects received support through cultural action and aid programmes, for which the €29.2m was mainly funded by the 25% levy on private copying.
Serge Perathoner, composer, arranger, and chairman of Sacem's board of directors, said: "The rapid and constant evolution of the music ecosystem, combined with the possibilities offered by new technologies, have had a considerable impact on the way we create, distribute and consume music. They have opened up new territory, while at the same time creating space for a new era of development for Sacem.
“Never before have Sacem's costs been so tightly under control. The strength of our tools and our expertise in authors’ rights management have enabled us to optimise the value works generate by redistributing more revenue to creators and publishers. For the first time in its history, our society distributed almost one billion euros to authors, composers and publishers who have placed their trust in us. Transformed and battle-ready, Sacem is armed to seek even greater value for its members.”
Cécile Rap-Veber (pictured), CEO of Sacem, said: "Thanks to the resumption of concerts, the explosion of digital, the new agreements signed with the many users of Sacem's repertoire, and the strategic shift undertaken in its transformation plan, Sacem had a record year in terms of both collections and royalties distributed. These results demonstrate, once again, our ability to adapt and strengthen our expertise in a highly competitive and rapidly changing sector.
“As a key local, international, and digital player, we want to go further with a Sacem 3.0 that is even closer to and more supportive of its members, more proactive and more innovative, while controlling its costs. We still face many challenges for the future of creation: securing financial resources for public broadcasting and the National Music Centre, the defence of private copying levies, the establishment of a more equitable music streaming ecosystem for creators and publishers, the fight against ‘buy-outs’, and the regulation of artificial intelligence. Sacem will be at the forefront, defending the rights and revenues of its members and partners as we face all these challenges."
More than 14,100 new members worldwide joined last year with 24.5% of them under 25 years old. Sacem membership passed 210,000.
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