10 Years of GEA - GEA - GRAMMO, ΕΡΑΤΩ, ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ

10 years GEA – GRAMMO , ERATO, APOLLO

A review of the course of the Organization, from its establishment until today.

Who we are and who we represent.

The GEA Organization is in Greece the single and only organization for the collective management and collection of the neighbouring rights of musicians, singers and producers (record companies) and the collection of the reasonable remuneration of no. 49 par. 1 of Law 2121/1993. The organization was named GEA from the pinnacle of the distinctive titles of its founding members / organizations – GRAMMO – ERATO – APOLLON. These three organizations established a single organization for the collective management of neighbouring rights (L.3905 / 2010) with the aim of uniform collection of the right to facilitate users with the permission of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

According to no. 55 par. 2 Ν. 2121/1993 GEA represents ALL the beneficiaries without exception, ie all the producers of sound media, all the singers, and all the musicians, Greek and foreign, and ALL their works without exception. with the right to a reasonable remuneration of no. 49 par. 1 is inalienable and it is only possible to entrust its management and collection to collective management organizations.

The reason for our creation.

The main reason for the creation of GEA is the collective management and collection of neighbouring music rights, which results from the public performance of recorded music. More specifically, every time the music is used in public it is characterized as “Public performance”.

In this case, permission is required from all those involved in the production of music, both from those who created it as composers and lyricists, who (copyright), and from those who contributed to being accessible to the public, such as performers / musicians / producers (neighbouring right). It goes without saying, therefore, that anyone wishing to use music in public must pay a reasonable fee for it as provided by law to the Organizations representing the rights of the music performers, where in the case of neighbouring rights it is GEA.

At the same time, GEA was created to develop a strategy in order to familiarize users with the right, but also to thoroughly inform the public about neighbouring rights in general.

GEA’s strategic objectives can be summarized as follows:

Continuous education / information of the society on the issues of protection of intellectual property and in particular of neighbouring rights
Providing valid and immediate information to all professionals in the field of music (performers, musicians, producers)
Exhaustive recording of the retransmission points of the artists’ works throughout the country (complete mapping of the places where there is public performance of music)
Maintaining the unified and legally exclusive position of GEA organizations / members in the management, collection and licensing of neighbouring rights in Greece
Reliable representation and defense of the rights of its members (organizations) before the State, whenever a dialogue is required with the competent Ministries, with the respective copyright protection organizations, with collective user bodies, etc. a
Continuous participation in European research and development programs with the cooperation of Academic Institutions and the respective European organizations through the members of GEA organizations (GRAMMO, ERATO, APOLLO) GEA was founded and developed with the aim of protecting and claiming the rights of its members and the social promotion of her work.

The Management of the Organization

GEA’s board is made up of people whose life is music. Artists, singers, musicians, producers, capable executives with many years of experience in the field of music industry and with daily contact with the real problems of the field. They are united by the common passion and the deep belief that through the protection of neighbouring rights and the proper education and information of music users, we “give life” to music and recognize its right to continue to “breathe” so that we can all enjoy the benefits. of. Their vision for music is the driving force of GEA which diffuses the passion of its beneficiaries, both in its world and in its partners.

Our 10-year course and our work, with the trust of beneficiaries and companies.

Closing 10 years of presence in the Greek music rights management market, GEA has since its inception been a healthy partner and interlocutor for all companies, organizations and federations in our country that want to ensure that the reasonable remuneration they pay, corresponds to their activity. and ends up with people who have dedicated time and money to creating the music they play.

Being the first Collective Management Organization, which operated with an organized and specialized internal call center, a specialized sales department for each market sector and a legal department focused on communication and the primary goal of cooperation, it has entered into more than 35 collective agreements with state and administrative carriers. GEA, aware of the value of the data and the usefulness of their interpretation at the level of strategy and development, from the beginning created its own personalized database and special reports analyzing them.

Acting in a long-suffering decade with the biggest economic crisis that our country has experienced, in combination with the unprecedented pandemic of the last 2 years which irreparably affected both the music ecosystem of the country and all the companies in the market, realizes its debt both towards its beneficiaries as well as entrepreneurs, adapting its activity and approach to the conditions of the respective market.

He did not stop showing his awareness in these 10 years, strengthening with donations of musical instruments, music schools of our country which faced basic shortcomings, while at the same time he stood by the businessmen of the country, repeatedly suspending its operation in areas which have been affected by natural disasters.

Confirming the above, during these 10 years GEA counts almost 40,000 cooperating companies of independent activity, having carried out universal information, research, recording and mapping, with modern means, of all companies that play music in all cities and islands of its 51 prefectures. our country with the aim of licensing them.

With its reliable representation in the market but also with the legal defense of the rights of its beneficiaries, it has managed to distribute since its establishment over 40,000,000 euros to the beneficiary Organizations that constitute it GRAMMO – ERATO – APOLLON, with the largest annual distribution, to reach 265% increase compared to the year of its establishment. It is worth noting that distributions took place even during the unprecedented period of the pandemic where the income of our beneficiaries from the public performance of recorded music was their only income due to the state measures taken.

How to record a repertoire.

For the correct and fair distribution of the collected fees from the 3 Organizations (Grammo, Erato, Apollo) to their Members, GEA collects a form by law, in a format approved by the Intellectual Property Organization, with the repertoire used by each company , per year. The distribution of fair remuneration to the beneficiaries is based on these lists and is done in the most correct and fair way.

GEABOX was created in the context of modernization in the identification, collection of music played in the market companies, GEA, in collaboration with the official and largest music recording, presentation and analysis body in Greece and exclusive partner of the record companies association (IFPI) Mediainspector.

GEABOX is a state-of-the-art music recognition device designed to both facilitate entrepreneurship, simplifying the statutory mandatory playlist delivery, and securing beneficiaries, rapidly increasing the volume of information (playlists) itself, leading to a more representative and complete picture of Public Music Performance in the market. Using the latest technology, it has been designed and manufactured in such a way as to identify any type of song regardless of repertoire, while guaranteeing, due to its direct connection to the audio source, the absolute protection of the personal data of the companies to be installed.

Vision of the future.

GEA, equipped with its passionate world, its experience, its know-how, its 10-year management background and the trust of both its beneficiaries and the market, continues its work with the aim of recognizing the value of music and beneficiaries in every corner of Greece.