Launch of Digital Europe

BRUSSELS, Belgium, November 8th 2017 - A group of leading European digital music companies today announce the launch of a new alliance, Digital Music Europe (DME). The alliance brings together Europe’s digital music leaders including , , , SoundCloud, Soundcharts and . Digital Music Europe will showcase and promote the success of the European digital , it will serve as a resource for policy-makers, media and the digital music industry, and will advocate for policies that shape a favourable business environment for digital music. “For a decade, European digital music companies have led the transformation of the music industry globally. Bringing these companies together to create DME is a great opportunity to highlight European leadership in this sector, inspire other European entrepreneurs and create a unique voice with policy-makers.” says Hans-Holger Albrecht, President of Digital Music Europe and CEO of Deezer. “DME is eager to share the experience and vision of its members to contribute to policy debates shaping Europe’s Digital Single Market. We believe that policy-makers have a key role to play to support the growth of the entire music sector and enable more innovation in Europe“ says Olivia Regnier, Chair of DME and Director of EU Regulatory Affairs at Spotify Europe has - and continues to be - a hotbed of innovation for many of the global success stories in digital music. DME member companies have helped transform the digital music landscape, enabling artists to reach ever-wider audiences, and bringing consumers radically new and compelling digital music experiences. These same companies have also transformed the global music industry. In 2016, the recorded music market grew by 4% in Europe; the fastest rate of growth in two decades, driven primarily by the mass adoption of streaming (with 112 million users subscribing to paid streaming services across the world, growth in streaming revenue went up by more than 60%*). Important policy debates on , geo-blocking, online platforms, e-privacy, data transfers, digital contracts and taxation are underway, and DME will work with European policy-makers and others that are passionate about music to create a legislative and regulatory framework that supports the growth of digital music, and brings benefits to both artists and consumers.

*Source: Global music report 2017 published by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) DME Media Contact Anna Tobur – [email protected] -

List of DME founding Members

7DIGITAL Founded in 2004 in the UK, 7digital is a digital music and radio services platform. 7digital operates globally and offers both B2B services for record labels, brands and other retailers, and direct-to-consumer (D2C) services. http://www.7digital.com

DEEZER Deezer is an internet-based music streaming service founded in in 2007 Deezer is currently present in more than 182 countries, and has 10 million active users, who can stream around 43 million tracks. http://www.deezer.com/

QOBUZ Qobuz is an online music platform that offers streaming subscriptions and instant downloads. Qobuz is the world leader in high-quality sound, and sets itself apart with its content selection and editorial line. Founded in France in 2008, Qobuz offers a catalogue of more than 40 million titles and is present in 9 countries. http://www.qobuz.com/

SOUNDCHARTS Soundcharts is the Market Intelligence platform for the Music Industry monitoring , streaming platforms, charts, and airplay. The company was founded in 2015. Its goal is to modernize the workflow of every professional with an all-in-one management and data-insights platform. In June 2017 Soundcharts won the “Data Analytics” and “Public’s Choice” awards at the MIDEM competition. https://soundcharts.com/

SOUNDCLOUD Soundcloud is a unique audio and music platform launched in Germany in 2008. It gives its users the possibility to upload, record, promote, and share their own- created music and to connect directly with artists. https://soundcloud.com/

SPOTIFY Launched in 2008 in , Spotify is a music streaming service providing instant access to a catalogue of more than 30 million songs. Spotify has more than 140 million users and 40 million subscribers globally and is available in 61 countries. www.spotify.com