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Business News Deals Labels & Publishers
Reach Music signs up to IMPEL
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 28 February 2020
US-based Reach Music has signed up to IMPEL, the organisation that negotiates direct deals in the digital domain on behalf of an assortment of independent music publishers.
Reach Music represents and administrates a diverse songs catalogue, including music from the likes of Common, Danzig, Ice-T, The Knack, Lisa Loeb, John Mayer and Nate Dogg.
IMPEL is the digital rights agency that began as an initiative of the UK’s Music Publishers Association before becoming a standalone entity in 2018. It negotiates direct deals on behalf of its members with multi-territory streaming services in many key markets.
It was created after the big publishers decided to start licensing their Anglo-American catalogues directly to digital platforms, rather than via the collective licensing system. Although, for various technical reasons, the collecting societies are still involved in these deals, with IMPEL working with the French society SACEM.
Confirming his company had now allied with IMPEL, Reach Music President Michael Closter said: “I respect the strong independent publishers that are part of the IMPEL collective, and spoke with many of them to discuss IMPEL and also the servicing by SACEM. Their high marks and recommendations were key to this decision. I’m pleased to join IMPEL and to be an active participant of this collective”.
Speaking on the IMPEL side, the organisation’s CEO Sarah Williams added: “It’s fantastic to be welcoming Michael and Reach Music into the IMPEL collective. Our international footprint is growing all the time and this is great news for IMPEL members. We are truly a global organisation with global ambitions and the impact of our combined expertise and aggregated market share is extremely positive for us all”.
