German performance rights organisation GEMA announced that it has acquired a majority stake in SoundAware Group, a Dutch provider of digital services for recognising music, events, and media content.
SoundAware is the latest addition to GEMA’s growing portfolio of investments in music recognition technology. The organisation has previously established the international joint venture ICE, acquired a majority stake in digital music distributor Zebralution, and established MusicHub.
“By investing in a music identification pioneer, we are adding an important core competency to our portfolio: digital music identification,” says Harald Heker, Chairman of the Board of Directors of GEMA.
SoundAware offers automatic content recognition. Its technology can identify and analyse music and media, providing analytical and tracking opportunities for radio, TV, and mobile devices. They help their clients by providing analysis and data processing.
SoundAware’s clients include international copyright organisations, market research agencies, music and media companies, TV and radio stations, and event organisers. The two primary clientele on the list are Buma/Stemra (the Netherlands) and SABAM (Belgium).
SoundAware to remain independent
Following the majority stake acquisition, SoundAware will remain independent under the umbrella of GEMA. It will operate from its headquarters in Hilversum, The Netherlands, under the leadership of its founder and general manager, Harold de Groot.
“With GEMA as a strong partner, we want to develop and internationally distribute new digital services for the music industry and media based on this technology,” says de Groot.
SoundAware Group also includes three other companies in which GEMA has a majority interest: TRCKTrace, Adfact, and RTV Monitor.
TRCKTrace searches the internet for events and music using crawlers, while Adfact specialises in cross-media monitoring to measure paid advertising in mass media. Meanwhile, RTV Monitor registers earned media via speech and image recognition in various media, such as radio, TV and podcasts.
“With SoundAware Group, we welcome another strong music industry partner to the GEMA umbrella. I firmly believe that such investments pave the way for GEMA’s continued success and future orientation,” says Dr. Ralf Weigand, Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
“The participation is good news for our members and customers because the MRT system enables quality and process improvements in one of GEMA’s core areas, the monitoring and tracking of music use,” he adds.
Why GEMA chose SoundAware
GEMA represents over 90,000 members, including composers, lyricists, and music publishers, in Germany and over two million rights holders worldwide. It is among the world’s largest author societies for musical works.
GEMA relies on music recognition technology (MRT) to accurately identify music, ensuring proper licensing and royalty distribution to its members. They currently use MRT in various sectors like TV, discotheques, radio, and online platforms.
With SoundAware’s MRT, GEMA can enhance its licensing and distribution procedures and broaden its range of services. This is because SoundAware’s proven technology can reliably identify music, even with very short fragments.
“The investment in a future-oriented technology is a decisive step for GEMA towards a powerful digital copyright organisation,” adds Heker.
The investment was one of Heker’s last plans in the company. After serving as CEO since 2007, he retired on October 1. A June announcement revealed that Dr. Tobias Holzmüller, who had been serving as chief legal counsel of the collective management organisation since 2013, is succeeding him.
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