Subject: Peermusic and ICE sign direct deal

18 April 2018 - Press release

ICE today announced that it has concluded an agreement with independent publisher Peermusic, to provide a full suite of licensing and administration services for online exploitation. Peermusic is one of a group of leading independent publishers to opt to become a direct customer of ICE, alongside Downtown/Songtrust earlier this year. Under the terms of the new agreement, ICE will provide a range of digital licensing and back-office royalties processing, for the pan-European territories covering a catalogue of over 300,000 works.

Nigel Elderton, European President at peermusic said, “As the online business evolves, we continue to evaluate our digital strategy and review our service providers around the world to ensure that our songwriters and composers receive the best service and achieve the most competitive rates possible. We chose to partner with ICE directly in Europe as they offer a tailored service with the business intelligence tools necessary to effectively track and police our royalties. ICE has continued to demonstrate that they are at the forefront of the pan European licensing business having negotiated deals with all of the major digital service providers across Europe and beyond.”

Peermusic represents a rich and diverse repertoire including works written by Buddy Holly, Hoagy Carmichael, David Foster, Tricky Stewart, and performed by the likes of Beyonce, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Ed Sheeran, Stormzy, George Clinton, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley, Celine Dion and Frank Sinatra. Peermusic recently celebrated its 90th anniversary as an independent publisher.

Ben McEwen, Commercial Director at ICE Services said, “Peermusic were one of the first publishers to embrace the opportunity of licensing on a multi-territorial basis when they centralised the administration of their rights via PRS in 2008 and we are delighted to now welcome them as a direct customer of ICE in 2018. We look forward to working with Ralph, Nigel, Goetz and the fantastic team at Peer to continue to grow their business via the growing range and scope of ICE Core licences.”

ICE represent over 280,000 rightsholders for the full suite of licensing and administration services for online exploitation. ICE has processed several billion online usages and distributed over 340 million euros back to rightsholders since 2016.