31/10/2019: The initiative coincided with the signing of a constitution for a new Spanish music federation.

^{Tourism expert Iñaki Gaztelumendi interviewing UK Music's Deputy CEO Tom Kiehl.}

UK Music’s Deputy CEO Tom Kiehl addressed delegates at the annual BIME PRO conference in Bilbao following the formation of a Spanish equivalent body to UK Music.

Es_ Música has taken inspiration from UK Music and is being established to bring together a number of Spanish music industry associations to coordinate shared goals across the national music sector and achieve progress to boost the Spanish industry.

UK Music was established with a similar intention in 2008 and for over 11 years has brought together the collective interests of the UK music industry. UK Music’s achievements include the coordination of the #LoveMusic campaign to support the Copyright Directive, changes to planning laws to protect music venues from closure, the Live Music Act to support the deregulation of small scale music performances and a successful Judicial Review in opposition to plans to introduce a private copying exception to copyright without fair compensation. The organisation has also developed groundbreaking research and data to aid understanding of the UK music industry, promoted careers and forged links with academia via the Music Academic Partnership (MAP) and is addressing challenges to diversity in the sector.

Es_ Música is made up of Acces (Asociacion Estatal de Salas de Música en Directo), AEDEM (Asociacion Espanola de Editores de Música), AIE (Sociedad de Artistas Interpretes o Ejecutantes de Espana), APM (Asociacion de Promotores Musicales), ARTE (Asociacion de Representantes Tecnicos del Espectaculo), OPEM (Organizacion Profesional de Editores de Música), Promusicae (Productores de Música de Espana), SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores) and UFI (Union Fonografica Independiente).

Commending this positive development for the Spanish music industry, Tom Kiehl told attendees at the conference:

“Back in the UK we have often remarked that UK Music is a globally unique organisation by bringing together so many component parts yet this is now not the case. It is very heartening that the Spanish music industry has taken inspiration from the UK Music model and we wish it all the best of luck.

“The secret to ensuring an organisation like UK Music can work is to establish a clear set of achievable goals early on. By working together to deliver this everyone will quickly come to realise that they are far more likely to achieve progress on shared goals when they are a collective voice for music.

“Achievable goals could be campaign opportunities, developing research, promoting careers or overcoming internal institutional problems. Being a collective voice is about pooling resources when it is mutually beneficial to do so and realising that we are far better when we are working together than if we were apart.

“I can’t imagine what a complex issue like Brexit would have been like for the UK music industry had UK Music not been in existence to keep everyone together.”