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ICE – international cooperation for licensing

ICE is Stim's collaboration for cross-border licensing and administration of music rights. Owners and partners are Stim, British PRS for Music and German GEMA.

ICE – international collaboration for the management of music rights

ICE (International Copyright Enterprise) is a collaboration between Stim (Sweden), PRS for Music (United Kingdom) and GEMA (Germany). Its purpose is to streamline the management of music rights across national borders, both in terms of information about works and licensing to digital music services.

Shared works database – the foundation for rights

The collaboration between the three organizations began in 2009 with the creation of a shared works database. This database collects information about musical works and their rightsholders, making it possible to identify, track and administer the use of music at scale.

Thanks to the database, ICE can match works with usage in an efficient and accurate way, which is crucial to ensure fair compensation to creators and publishers. With the help of advanced technology and machine learning in the cloud-based platform CUBE, many parts of this process are automated, reducing the risk of errors and increasing transparency.

Licensing – a hub for digital music services

In 2015 the collaboration evolved with the formation of ICE Services – a joint company for licensing and data processing. ICE functions as a European hub for licensing digital music, enabling centralized agreements with services like Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music.

This means that rightsholders no longer need to enter individual agreements with every digital platform. Through the ICE licensing model, music users can access large repertoires through a single agreement, while rightsholders receive their compensation faster, more accurately and in a more transparent way.

Today ICE handles licensing in over 160 countries and has paid out over 4.5 billion euros to its affiliated rightsholders.

What does this mean for you?

  • For music creators: ICE ensures that your works are registered correctly and that you receive fair compensation when your music is used globally.
  • For music users: ICE offers a smooth licensing process, making it easier to access a wide range of music through a single agreement.

By combining technological innovation with international cooperation, ICE contributes to a fairer and more efficient music industry for all parties.

For more information, visit ICE Services' official website.