In 2022, SGAE achieved its highest revenues of the previous fifteen years
The organisation distributed 183.5 million euros between January and June 2023
SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores) distributed 316.3 million euros among its members and administered rights holders in 2022, representing an increase of 27.4% compared to 2021, as stated in the 2022 Management Report. 66,243 authors have collected rights for their works, an increase of 74% compared to the previous year. Revenue reached approximately 349 million euros (348,938,043 euros), the highest amount since 2007, 35% more than in 2021.
The Spanish Authors' Collecting Society distributed a total of €183.5 million in authors' rights between January and June 2023, 18% more than in the same period in 2022 (€154,8 million).
SGAE applied a reduction of the administration discount to its members and other administered rights holders in its most recent distribution, carried out on 27 June, as approved by the Board of Directors.
For those categories of Public Communication, where a 40% discount was applied, it has been reduced to 35% (variety-others, television sets, human and mechanical); in the section of television stations, from 18% to 17%; and in overseas authors’ rights, from 10% to 8%. SGAE launched a progressive reduction in the administration discount in the Drama category in February 2023, reducing the percentage from 16% to 14%.
SGAE's general director, Cristina Perpiñá-Robert, highlights that the organisation must uphold this growth line. "Our goal is to continue improving our results, especially in the digital realm, and to increase efficiency in the distribution of authors’ rights, with greater transparency towards our members," she says.
Authors' rights modalities with the highest growth in 2022 have been the following:
- Performing and Musical Arts, with a growth of 88.8%. Revenue from Performing Arts reached €9.9 million, a 40.7% increase compared to 2021. Meanwhile, revenue for Live Music has increased by 112.7%, reaching 30.2 million euros. The Performing and Musical Arts have added up to 40.1 million euros.
- Administered Authors' rights, with an increase of 54.7%. Income from this category reached 23.1 million euros.
- Digital Authors’ rights, with a growth of 48.7%. Revenue has amounted to 46.4 million euros. 97.3% of authors’ rights from music services come from international services operating under a pan-European licence. A total of 69.8% of this corresponds to exploitations in Spain. Streaming music content continues to be the dominant trend on music platforms. Streaming revenues in 2022 amounted to €28.9 million, 45.6% more than the previous year. Meanwhile, VOD services reported revenues of 16.3 million euros, reflecting an increase of 63.6% compared to 2021.
- Public Communication, with an increase of 47.6%. Revenue derivatives amounted to 58.1 million euros. New client acquisition grew by 62.9% in 2022.
- International, with 25%. Income from overseas amounted to €27.9 million. SGAE holds 314 representation contracts with 175 Authors’ Rights Management Entities (RMEs), covering 221 territories worldwide.
With the exception of authors’ rights from Physical Media, which suffered a decrease of 12.2% (€3.8 million) compared to 2021, all modalities have grown: Broadcasting and Cable income amounted to €132.8 million (+18.7%), and Private Copying income reached €15.3 million (+17.6%).
Monthly distribution in Digital Networks
SGAE initiated the ongoing distribution of Digital Markets in December 2022, allocating these authors’ rights among its members every month, as it does for performing arts and major concerts (i.e. those with box-office income exceeding 200,000 euros, excluding VAT, and where 60% of the repertoire performed is authored by the artist himself/herself).
SGAE distributes authors' rights for the rest of the categories every three months. Thus, in March, June, September and December, authors’ rights are paid for the use of works in radio and television stations, digital platforms, concerts and other live performances, discotheques and music bars, musical settings and entertainment, cinema, television sets in public venues, private copying and sale of media, as well as claims and compensation for unidentified artworks, and overseas authors’ rights.
€5.6 million in grants
SGAE, via its Fundación SGAE, allocated 5.6 million euros in 2022 to the creative activity of the authors and publishers of the collecting society. The Spanish Authors' Collecting Society awarded more than 390 grants to promote the repertoire's internationalisation and encourage new musical creation and its programming; it designed 160 training initiatives attended by more than 9,200 students and carried out 272 promotional activities. In addition, it awarded 212 social grants amounting to over 650,000 euros, helping its members alleviate extreme vulnerable circumstances.
A society with more than 130,000 members
According to the data provided by the SGAE 2022 Management Report, the Spanish organisation comprises 121,426 creative artists, 8,655 heirs, and 2,433 publishers. In total, 132,515 members. 5,968 new members were registered in 2022, representing an increase of 23% compared to the previous year. 60.9% of these new members are under 40 years of age. 26.1% of all new members were women.
SGAE manages the authors' rights for musical artists (composers and lyricists), audiovisual creators (scriptwriters, screenwriters, directors, translators and adapters), performing arts (playwrights and choreographers) and publishers.