Ministry of Economy Grants "Emirates Music Rights Association" License to Protect Rights of Creators and Musicians and Enhance Competitiveness of the Creative Economy in the UAE

Bin Touq: The UAE has successfully built an advanced legislative and regulatory environment to protect intellectual property for all creators... Granting this license represents an important milestone in establishing the UAE as a destination for creative industries.

Minister of Culture: The collective management license for music rights is a fundamental pillar to stimulate innovation and protect creators' rights.

• The licensing of "Emirates Music Rights Association" includes organizing the collection and distribution of rights for music creators and ensuring media channels and platforms comply with paying dues to them.
• Creative industries have witnessed remarkable growth in recent years, given the country's capabilities and significant opportunities for creators and innovators across various intellectual property and creative sectors.
• The Ministry will work with the Association to develop an electronic platform for collecting and registering rights, managing revenues, and organizing awareness workshops for artists to inform them about their rights and protection mechanisms.

Abu Dhabi, April 2025:

The Ministry of Economy announced granting the collective management license for music to the "Emirates Music Rights Association," aimed at organizing the collection and distribution of rights for music creators, and ensuring channels and content broadcasting platforms respect rights in the music sector within the country. This contributes to enhancing the competitiveness of the creative economy and supports establishing a sustainable creative environment, based on global best practices, creating a creative climate for talented individuals and innovators, and enabling creative economy tools. The Ministry clarified that this license was granted based on Federal Decree-Law No. (38) of 2021 regarding copyright and neighboring rights.

This announcement was made during a ceremony organized by the Ministry today in Abu Dhabi, in cooperation with the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), attended by His Excellency Abdullah Ahmed Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy, who delivered the keynote speech, His Excellency Mubarak Al Nakhi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, His Excellency Dr. Abdulrahman Hassan Al Muaini, Assistant Undersecretary for Intellectual Property Sector at the Ministry of Economy, with participation from representatives of entities concerned with the music sector, authors, artists, producers, a number of international organizations specialized in copyright protection, and elite officials, experts, and stakeholders in the music industry and intellectual property protection in the country.

On this occasion, His Excellency Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, affirmed that the UAE has succeeded in building an advanced legislative environment that keeps pace with global best practices to enhance intellectual property protection, supporting the competitiveness of the cultural and creative sector as one of the main drivers of the national economy. He stated, "Over the past years, we have developed an integrated system to protect authors' rights by updating legislation and launching qualitative initiatives that keep pace with digital transformations and modern innovations, represented in the law protecting copyright and neighboring rights, which has enhanced the country's efforts to support the transition towards a creative economy as a fundamental pillar of sustainable economic growth."

His Excellency added: "Granting the license to the Emirates Music Rights Association represents an important milestone in enhancing the growth of the creative economy in the UAE, as it is one of the pivotal sectors in the 'We the UAE 2031' vision, where we aspire for our country to be a regional and global center for culture, talent, and creative content by developing an attractive and stimulating legislative and regulatory structure."

His Excellency explained that this step is a new building block in an institutional edifice that protects rights, enhances justice, and creates new opportunities for artists, authors, and producers within the country, which will contribute to developing the creative industries sector related to music. It also comes within the ongoing efforts to achieve the targets of the National Strategy for Cultural and Creative Industries, as the country seeks to provide a supportive environment that guarantees creators' rights, stimulates investment in the music sector, and establishes clear and transparent mechanisms for regulating the process of collecting and distributing revenues, contributing to the development of the creative economy and providing artistic talents with broader opportunities for development and production.

His Excellency indicated that the license works to create a strong and competitive collective management system for the music sector, which is an essential part of attracting investments in the fields of cultural industries and enabling partnerships between the public and private sectors. Therefore, the Ministry of Economy's role will not be limited to just granting the license, but will continue to provide technical and legislative support, and enhance cooperation with the Association to implement its assigned tasks according to global best practices.

His Excellency Abdullah bin Touq said: "The efforts of the Ministry of Economy, in cooperation with concerned entities from the government and private sectors, are continuing to provide all the enablers to protect intellectual property rights in all economic sectors in the country, especially with regard to creative industries, which have witnessed remarkable growth in recent years, given the country's capabilities and significant opportunities for creators and innovators in various sectors and activities of intellectual property."
For his part, His Excellency Sheikh Salem bin Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of Culture, affirmed that granting the first license to practice collective management of music rights consolidates the UAE's position as a leading destination in the field of intellectual property and a supporter of the music industry, which is a vital tributary to the creative economy. He pointed out that collective management is a fundamental pillar to stimulate innovation, protect creators' rights, and build a sustainable environment that balances the interests of authors and artists with market requirements.

His Excellency said: "The launch of this license represents a pivotal milestone in our cultural journey and reflects our vision for a future where creativity flourishes. At the Ministry of Culture, we are keen to empower this sector through qualitative initiatives, most notably the National Program for Cultural and Creative Grants, which provides comprehensive support to Emirati creators, with the aim of enhancing cultural production and developing cultural and creative industries."

His Excellency added: "This step contributes to providing a sustainable environment that supports artists and authors, preserves their material and moral rights, and ensures the continuity of creative production, enhancing the confidence of talented individuals that their creations are protected by fair laws that stimulate innovation."

The Ministry explained that it will work in cooperation with the Association to develop an advanced electronic platform that allows for rights registration and achieving efficiency in revenue management, in addition to organizing awareness workshops for artists to familiarize them with their rights and protection mechanisms. Cooperation with international institutions working in the field of copyright will also be enhanced, and global experiences will be utilized in applying the best legal and technical practices in this field.

For his part, Gadi Oron, Director General of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), said: "
"I am delighted to see the creation of The Emirates Music Rights Alliance (EMRA), the first non-profit collective management organisation in the UAE and in the Gulf Region. Its establishment is a landmark that will no doubt serve as an example and precedent for others to follow. We are proud that CISAC has been part of a unique international collaboration to reach this point. We will remain committed to supporting the development of EMRA and help it evolve into a successful society representing creators both at home and around the world.”

Victoria Oakley, CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), said: "
“The establishment of an effective, transparent and accountable rights management organisation for public performance and broadcast rights is a further step that will cement UAE as one of the most dynamic and exciting music markets in the world. Not least because according to the IFPI Global Music Report just published, in 2024 this region was the fastest growing recorded music market in the world.
“IFPI is proud to support this work and I congratulate you all on a successful launch.”

It is worth mentioning that the UAE has given great importance to developing the appropriate environment for the growth and prosperity of creative industries, as it has worked on developing a number of legislations and policies aimed at increasing the contribution of the creative economy to the growth of the national economy, which enhanced the contribution of cultural and creative industries to the UAE's GDP in 2022 to rise by 3.5%, equivalent to 54.4 billion dirhams.

In 2024, the global music industry witnessed growth of 4.8% in revenues, reaching $29.6 billion, according to a report issued by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The Middle East and North Africa region grew by 22.8%, making it the fastest growing recorded music market in the world.