Full effort for creators
Many creative heads under one roof
A lot of creative heads are joined in GEMA. They compose music, write the lyrics for it or publish music. Without these people, our world would be much poorer. Without GEMA, they are likely to be poorer, too . As a strong creative community, they can exercise their rights for a fair payment whenever their works are used in public.
GEMA in a nutshell
We receive exploitation rights
GEMA members have assigned their exploitation rights of their rights so we can manage them.
This is how we generate licence revenues
We issue such exploitation rights to music users and thus generate licence revenues.
We distribute the collected income
We distribute the collected income to our members and the members of other collective management organisations as royalties.
We tune and harmonise different interests
A win-win situation for everyone
Music users get a licence from us to use the global music repertoire. Music creators receive their royalties. Both parties benefit.
The tasks of GEMA
GEMA members assign exploitation rights to us. We manage them and represent them vis-à-vis music users (e.g. record companies, broadcasters or public performance promoters/event organisers). So if you want to perform, play back or reproduce music in a certain way, you must pay a fee for which you get a licence from us in return.
What GEMA actually stands for
If you want to understand what GEMA actually stands for, you won’t be able to avoid the notion of copyright! It ensures that creators of musical works receive fair payment for their work. Copyright is applicable in any case, independently of GEMA. Even without us, music users would have to pay for music when they use it in public. But instead of acquiring the rights from each author individually, they can simply contact us and get access to the world's musical repertoire: fast and uncomplicated.
How it all began...
Imagine: It is the middle of the 19th century. You are a composer of chansons and are sitting in a café in Paris. Suddenly music is played which you know all too well - no wonder, it is music that you created! The atmosphere is rising, the guests are exuberant and the money is rolling into the cash register of the café owner. And you? You only end up with a bill for your lemonade. In such a situation, would you not also say: “Hold on a minute...”
