Time for some music publishing announcements? Why not? Well, the publishing sector has used Europe's big industry bash to announce a couple of partnerships which work towards meeting that previously reported challenge set by the European Commission to simplify and open up royalty collection systems across the continent.
The first is a collaborative project between the UK's MCPS-PRS and their Spanish counterparts SGAW. Called eLOS, this project aims to "build a model for the licensing of online music services in Europe", which basically means a simpler cheaper-to-run system for licensing publishing rights to pan-European digital platforms. The two royalty bodies will pilot their model in the first quarter of 2006, with a view to developing a full operation later this year if it proves successful.
Second, EMI Music Publishing has announced it is entering a partnership with the aforementioned MCPS-PRS and Germany's GEMA to develop a 'one-stop shop' for all of Europe for the clearance of digital publishing rights of the major's Anglo-American songs. So now you know.