2018

ANNUAL
REPORT

ABRAMUS

Abramus celebrated its 36th year in 2018, retaining its position as the country’s largest copyright association in number of members, representing 66,948 members in Brazil and abroad.

Entrenching the efficient service to the Artists and Repertoire department, the year ended with 6,422 new members, exceeding 2017’s numbers by 9%.

Abramus’ share in “sertanejo” music (Brazilian country music), a market that is exploding in Brazil, was enhanced even more with approximately 90% of the rights holders in this genre represented by Abramus. Composers from this segment were also at the top of the ranking for the most played songs of practically all Ecad metrics.

In 2018, the development of tools for information technology was once again one of the priorities focusing on innovation. Internal hardware has been improved and new projects have begun development, such as: Online membership, Online Registration of Works, tightening relationships with International Associations through projects: IPD, VRDB2, UP, AVIndex, CWR Light and the start of construction on the DataWarehouse.

The Documentation Department carried on its pioneering spirit and know-how,

registering repertoires of works and potpourri, phonograms and audiovisual works through its own documentation, maintaining the conformity and interconnection of the repertoires for the effective distribution of royalties. There were 822,458 Works and Potpourri registered, 640,958 phonograms and 3,506 cue sheets.

Internationally, the International Copyright Department of Abramus saw a 2.5% increase in the amounts received from abroad. It was the highest amount over the last 3 years. R$ 22,403,108.88 was distributed abroad among foreign companies, publishers and authors. The year closed out with 83 contracts signed that allowed Abramus associates to be represented in over 190 territories.

In the International Related Rights Department, Abramus continued as the best represented Brazilian company, with new contracts signed with companies like FKMP, Sampra and Prophon, and the rights holders being represented in these countries: South Korea, South Africa and Bulgaria, respectively. Foreign revenue came mainly from countries

EDITORIAL

01

such as Sweden, the Netherlands and the United States, benefi ting over 1,100 holders.

2018 was a special year in the Digital arena, thanks to agreements signed with YouTube by Ecad and Abramus, which fi nally made it possible to distribute royalty payments through the consumption of music on the platform.

Abramus maintains an active presence in a number of working groups involving the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), such as the Society Publisher Forum (SPF) and the Business Technical Committee (BTC), where the permanent monitoring of major events in the digital area is performed to keep the structure updated and the associates well-informed.

The Theater & Dance Department continues its pursuit of going beyond the collection and distribution of rights and retaining its signifi cant performance. The department retained about 300 domestic authors, such as Manuel Bandeira, Cecília Meireles, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Luis Fernando Verissimo, Ariano Suassuna, Nelson Rodrigues and others. There were more than 360 requests for assembly over the year, generating revenues of R$ 1.3 million.

In visual arts, 2018 marked AUTVIS’ best year in history due to a boost in international revenues and the number of rights holders, in addition to improved internal processes. In the international area, AUTVIS signed new

contracts, participated in events and created and chaired a working group to extend the repertoire of visual arts in Latin America within the Latin American and Caribbean Committee. Total revenue collected in 2018 was R$ 2,061,938.93 with 948 members.

Abramus Communications maintained its focus on information and having a closer relation with its members in 2018. All processes in the area act in an interconnected manner. Tools such as social networks, websites, magazine and participation in events resulted in closer ties to right holders and helped to entrench Abramus’ good image.

Abramus reinforced its partnerships in 2018 and remained engaged with the world’s leading organizations and rights institutions, so that the works by its registered artists are respected and refl ected not only in Brazil, but in all countries.

Details on the outcome from the work in 2018 are available on the upcoming pages. We appreciate the confi dence you have in our work and we are committed to doing more and getting even better with every year. We will continue to plow ahead and meet our goals on behalf of copyright holders.

Roberto Mello
CEO

AUTVIS

02

2018 was AUTVIS best year ever, due to a number of factors:

• increased international revenues, a result of ambitious collection eff orts from foreign companies on the Brazilian repertoire;
• a boost in rights holders that came out of campaigns on social networks and artistic events;
• internal processes were completely revised and improved.

There was a signifi cant increase of 245% in total revenue and a 12-fold rise in distribution to Brazilian artists.

AUTVIS also saw a great deal of progress internationally, including: signing new contracts, participating in events, creating and presiding over a working group to extend the repertoire of visual arts in Latin America within the Latin American and Caribbean Committee.

A new system for license management was implemented in December, and it is expected to shorten service time and increase the number of licenses.

The plan for 2019 is to expand the collection of revenues in digital media and heighten participation in events related to the arts.

The Abramus Documentation is based on data and information from a wide variety of copyright holders that have been analyzed and processed. This information doesn’t only come from Brazil, but also from all foreign countries and corporations in which we have representation and are part of the Collective Management.

The documentation base conducted by Abramus provides the proper and eff ective distribution of rights to each of its holders, including a large range of copyright holders in their respective categories, be they authors, performers, accompanying musicians, record producers, publishers, and lastly, the true holder of the right.

Aligned with all other internal departments and serving the needs and expectations of its holders, Abramus once again retained its pioneering spirit and know-how in 2018, registering bodies of work and Potpourri, albums and audiovisual works through documentation while maintaining the harmony and interconnection of the repertoires and enabling the distribution of copyrights.

The transparency of relationships and the opportunity for contributions from our members made it once again possible to carry out new registrations, providing creators with the peace of mind that their bodies of work are documented and will be properly dealt with.

DOCUMENTATION

03

Registrations - by Categories

ABRAMUS Registrations - 2018



INTERNATIONAL
DEPARTMENT
AUTHOR'S
RIGHTS

04

2018 was an intense year, full of challenges. There was a contentious presidential election in Brazil, all while the country weathered a fi nancial crisis that resulted in the closure of a number of establishments, a fact that reduced revenues collected from royalties.

The reduction compared to 2018 was 3% lower than in 2017. The distribution was 15.75% lower compared to the previous year’s number.

This made the challenges that much greater. Even more work needed to be done so that rights holders and companies would not be aff ected by everything that was happening. Investments in training, systems and tools continued to be made, and new tools are planned for 2019.

Over the past eight years, Abramus received more than R$ 24 million from abroad. Despite the turbulent economic situation in Brazil, Abramus saw a 2.5% increase in revenues received from abroad. This was the highest amount over the last 3 years. The companies with the highest returns were, respectively: SPA (Portugal); SIAE (Italy); GEMA (Germany); SACEM (France) and SACM (Mexico).

The year ended with 83 signed representation agreements. This has made it possible for Abramus members to be represented in over 190 countries. As such, they can dedicate themselves to their art with the confi dence that Abramus is able to represent them worldwide.

The International Copyright Department maintains its commitment to taking care of the repertoire of foreign companies with which Abramus has bilateral agreements. In addition to them, there are foreign publishers who have chosen to affi liate directly with Abramus.

R$ 22,403,108.88 was distributed abroad among foreign companies, publishers and authors.

There will be a new system for 2019 to adapt to CISAC rules and an ability to provide greater transparency in information to members. There will also be a more functional Portal that will off er more autonomy to copyright holders.

New contracts were signed in 2018. Now the companies of FKMP, Sampra and Prophon are represented by Abramus in Brazil, as are copyright holders represented in the following countries, respectively: South Korea, South Africa and Bulgaria.

The infl ow of foreign revenues for 2018 was approximately R$ 584,000. The main receipts were from Sweden, the Netherlands and the United States, benefi ting more than 1,100 Brazilian rights holders. Regarding the foreign repertoire, approximately R$ 17 million was distributed to 60 organizations from diff erent countries, as well as some foreign rights holders directly represented by Abramus.

Abramus conducted studies in all the countries it represents in an eff ort to cover the collection of the repertoire of our Brazilian rights holders even more. These surveys involve questionnaires sent to companies with questions concerning laws, rights paid by each country, amounts collected and distributed in recent years, as well as the specifi cs of each local system, the exchange of information and general questions.

It was also a year fi lled with a lot of work on organizing the 44th General Assembly of SCAPR, held in May of 2019 in São Paulo, which Abramus hosted. The annual event was prepared to welcome more than 45 companies and around 100 people coming from many diff erent countries.

INTERNATIONAL
DEPARTMENT
NEIGHBORING
RIGHTS

05

ARTISTIC &
ARTISTIC
WORKS

06

2018 was a successful year for Abramus. The organization sustained its level of growth for members from previous years. There were 6,422 more rights holders than in 2017, closing out the year with 66,948 associates. Abramus’ market share stood at 29.9%.

Abramus has units all over Brazil, carrying out the service directly with the artists through their A&R staff . They are capable and eff ective for fulfi lling any of their holders’ needs, whether by email, telephone or in person.

In 2018, Abramus expanded its operations in Brazil and opened another affi liate. In an eff ort to expand service into the Northeast region, it inaugurated another unit in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará in July.

“Sertanejo” music (Brazilian country music) under Abramus continued to generate the highest revenue in 2018. On streaming platforms and radios, “sertanejo” composers dominate the rankings of composers with the highest revenues. All of them were members of Abramus, like singer and songwriter Marília Mendonça, who stood at the top of the list for digital platforms, along with composers Thales Lessa and Juliano Tchula. Another Abramus member, Thallys Pacheco, led the Live Music sector.

Through the active role that Abramus played, new grounds were conquered with agreements signed for unpaid royalties. In the context of Digital music, this occurred with YouTube. The agreement allowed money from royalties to be distributed through the consumption of music on the platform which had not been done since December 2012, recognizing the use of music in their videos as a public performance. The fi rst distribution from this agreement was in July, covering many Abramus members. After these amounts were settled, quarterly distributions of monthly payments began in August according to the sector’s payment schedule.

Another signifi cant agreement made it possible for members to receive undistributed money for fi lms. Abraplex (Brazilian Association of Multiplex Operator Film Companies) signed an agreement with Ecad for payments of money in arrears from January 1999 to November 2017. The amounts began to be paid in September, and it was another victory by the collective management system that benefi ted rights holders from all associations. After the payment date of this agreement, the exhibiting companies associated with Abraplex began to regularly pay royalties.

Abramus took part in many events in 2018 where it maintained close contact with its members, including BRMC (Brazil Music Conference), Rio2C, the 12th Seminar-ItalianIbero-Brazilian Music Show Experience, Exponeja, Music Trends Brasil, SIM São Paulo, BMS-Brasil Music Summit, Rio Music Conference and Festa Nacional da Música (National Music Festival). These were all events related to the musical and audiovisual market.

Aware of the considerable changes in the music market throughout the world, Abramus devises a number of tools in order to streamline and facilitate claims from rights holders, such as online registration of works, access to information through a mobile application, and more. There are high expectations for further growth in 2019.

Digital music consumption has been the key driver of the music market throughout the world. Today, Brazil is fully integrated in this digital backdrop, now the prime territory of Latin America and the country with the largest number of subscribers for streaming services in the region.

Major platforms are already operating in Brazil and others are looking into opportunities to open business within the country. 2018 was a crucial year, thanks to agreements signed with YouTube by Ecad and Abramus, which fi nally made it possible to distribute royalty payments through the consumption of music on the platform. YouTube, it should be pointed out, is the world’s largest music platform in terms of number of users.

In 2018, YouTube also unveiled two new tools in Brazil and a number of other territories - YouTube Music and YouTube Premium - both devised to expand on-demand music and video services and high expectations to improve users’ relationship with the platform. The largest music platform, when viewing revenue generated for the authors, remains Spotify. The platform’s paid subscriber base continues to grow in Brazil. In addition to the subscription model, there is also the free model for music consumption, which includes some limitations on features and interactivity, but which also continues to be rather popular amongst a portion of users.

Even with the booming market and high numbers for music consumption, the revenues involved and distributed to creators are still low compared to what is generated in other segments, such as public performances.

Although it’s not a new motif, the digital environment still elicits a lot of curiosity within the artistic community. Abramus monitors trends in this market and has come up with solutions to help members who seek support in this area. Music creators need to feel secure during this time of transition. As a Society of Collective Management and content publisher, Abramus’ goal has been to educate and assist its members on this key business model.

The challenges of this new market are also seen in Abramus’ business, which maintains an active presence in a number of working groups involving the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), such as the Society Publisher Forum (SPF) and the Business Technical Committee (BTC), where the permanent monitoring of major events in the digital area is performed to keep the structure updated and the associates well-informed.

INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
AND BUSINESS
AFFAIRS

07

THEARTER & DANCE

08

Over the last few years, the area of Performing Arts has devised a working methodology based on transparency and productivity that adheres to the consistent process of adapting to improve activities. As a result of these actions, Abramus can be currently viewed as not simply working with the collection and distribution of rights, but as practically acting like an agent for authors by constantly seeking to publicize their works, both in the domestic and international market.

The department retained around 300 national authors, including Manuel Bandeira, Cecília Meireles, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Luis Fernando Verissimo, Ariano Suassuna, Nelson Rodrigues, along with other renowned names, without any casualties.

366 assembly requests were made in 2018, with 234 authorized and 171 contracts signed. This endeavor resulted in revenues of R$ 1.3 million. A great number of those authorized were a public success during this period.

In addition to authorized pieces by author Nelson Rodrigues, which are a focal point of Abramus’ Performing Arts Department, there were also those that are internationally renowned such as “A Streetcar Named Desire”, “The Mountaintop”, “Morte accidentale di un anarchico” and the hallowed “I Musicanti”, which continues to be represented through various productions across Brazil.

In 2018, Abramus Communications continued to focus on providing information and having a closer relation with its members.

The Communication Department makes eff orts to provide clear and rapid information to members on the association’s work, relevant issues and news related to copyrights and the music market.

All communication processes operate in an interconnected manner, such as social networks, websites and e-mails sent to members.

The goal is to have the work done by the association and all relevant copyright information eff ectively absorbed by affi liates and all those involved.

The primary focus is on social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube), the website and Abramus’ magazine.

Posts are published daily on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and Abramus uploads a weekly blog post with additional content. The topics of the posts revolve around the member artists and their works, including royalties, the music market and digital media.

The Abramus web series was released on the YouTube channel, refl ecting: Batucada Abramus; Bossa Abramus and Criança Abramus.

Followers have steadily increased on all networks, including interactivity between Abramus and the general public.

COMMUNICATION

09

Instagram

The year came to a close having 16,991 followers and that number continues to rise. It’s the social network that has seen the highest proportional increase and has the most interactivity. information eff ectively absorbed by affi liates and all those involved.


Youtube

The year came to a close having 1,100 followers. The web series followers progressively increased. Abramus has been working on attracting more followers to the channel by producing new content.



Twitter

The year came to a close having 8,400 followers

Eventos

Abramus took part in, supported and promoted a number of events throughout the year, including major events like BRMC (Brazil Music Conference), Rio2C, the 12th SeminarItalian-Ibero-Brazilian Music Show Experience, Exponeja, Music Trends Brasil, SIM São Paulo, BMS-Brasil Music Summit, Rio Music Conference and Festa Nacional da Música (National Music Festival).

Site

The Abramus website seeks to off er valuable information and functionality to its members. It provides benefi cial content and information related to copyrights. It contains news on music, theater, copyrights and visual arts.

Newsletter

The Abramus Newsletter is a monthly publication that
features the big news from the month.
Music Contacts: 50,000
Theater and Dance Contacts: 10,000
AUTVIS Contacts: 7,000


Magazine

The Abramus Magazine publishes 3,000 copies per issue. It features news on Music, Visual Arts and Drama. There are articles on copyright, artists and the music industry. There is also a digital version available for reading on the site

FINANCE
DEPARTMENT

10

Abramus is the largest copyright association in the country in terms of the number of members from a variety of areas, and this number continues to steadily climb. 2018 ended with Abramus representing 66,948 rights holders in Brazil and abroad. There is a great amount of responsibility and ethics behind the work performed, which is always conducted with the utmost transparency and professionalism.

The Finance Department is tasked with distributing the money coming from the public performance of musical works in Brazil and throughout the globe. This distribution is the result of a production chain, which involves all Abramus departments and ensures that these payments are accurate and correct.

Abramus has spent time adapting and optimizing its tools so that it can off er the best service to its members and ensure that royalties are accurately distributed.

Facing the challenge of keeping the payment schedule consistently up to date, as it has been successfully doing for years, the team, divided between Abramus units in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, count on the persistent support of the Information Technology Department, the area responsible for system and information processing.

Members are able to gain access to receipts, Ecad payment statements and payment summary statements on the Abramus Portal, providing greater transparency, dynamism and interaction for each member. This process has optimized the work of the department, resulting in a decreased fl ow of e-mails and correspondences, along with reducing operating costs.

The fi nancial statement is audited by external companies, who confi rm the excellent work Abramus has been performing throughout the fi scal year.

In 2018, Abramus identifi ed and applied the necessary modifi cations to the IT area, recognizing that innovation is the way to consistently improve its service to title holders. We are currently undergoing a process of digital transformation.

Abramus has procured improved hardware, revised partnership agreements, signed new contracts and implemented collaborative software for standardizing and developing systems. All these initiatives serve as the foundation for the solid construction of the new and modern avenues we want to pursue, seeking to provide our associates with the satisfaction and confi dence they need.

Our new strategy has resulted in some of the following:

1) Online Membership It could previously only be done in person, which proved to be somewhat diffi cult for any number of reasons, notably the member’s lack of time to appear at the organization. These days, the membership process can be done entirely online, making it easier for both the holder and for Abramus.

2) Online Registration of a Work In the past, independent authors and national publishers needed to email template sheets and reports in order to register their work. Today, through an

online registration process for works, they can enter and electronically send the work through the area specifi ed in the associated portal. Receipt and processing also takes place electronically at Abramus, which speeds up registration.

3) Tightening relationships with International Associations through the following projects: IPD, VRDB2, UP, AVIndex, CWR Light. It is extremely important that the rights for our Brazilian holders are guaranteed outside the domestic territory, so that the rights of our foreign holders are identifi ed and paid more promptly and with higher quality.

4) Start of construction on the DataWarehouse for managing information. It will work as a central, permanent database that will support all analysis and reporting that holders require, without wasting time on requests or slow processing. It will be a self-service environment of information.

The outlook for 2019 remains to invest in more IT projects geared towards driving innovation. There will be a focus on 3 principles: 1) Mobile Applications - relationships with Abramus in the palm of the member’s hand; 2) Business Intelligence - income metrics, fi nancial statement analysis and reporting of selfservice without dependence on an IT area; 3) Infrastructure - which will be the backbone capable of supporting the new technologies.

INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY

11

ECAD

12

Artists can commemorate last year’s numbers: even in the midst of an economic crisis, the ongoing work of music associations and the Ecad to heighten awareness on royalty payments has resulted in signifi cant gains for the production chain of music. We distributed R$ 971 million in royalties to artists and other holders, in addition to members. The number of benefi ciaries increased by 25%, rising from 259,000 in 2017 to more than 326,000 composers, performers, musicians, publishers and record companies compensated in 2018.

Approximately 66% of the total amount was distributed to the national repertoire, a contributing force in strengthening the Brazilian music industry. These fi gures show that, even more than bolstering music as far as art and business, Ecad aids in keeping productive those who work and live in order to delight people with their talents.

Movies and Streaming at the top

The sector with the highest growth in copyright distribution was the Film Industry, with an over 400% increase in the total amount distributed. This result is due to the substantial agreements signed throughout 2018 with groups such as Abraplex, which represents chains such as UCI, Cinépolis and Cinesystem.

Next is the Streaming sector, which provided many musical works and artists to the collective management. Recent agreements signed with YouTube and Netfl ix were contributing factors to the 72% growth in the amount distributed, as well as increased awareness on the part of consumers in this segment regarding the payment of royalties.

Copyright and related rights

Of all amounts distributed in 2018, 76.4% were transferred to copyright holders. The related party received 23.54% of the amount.

The copyright includes composers and music publishers, and is paid whenever a song is played. Related rights are due when a recording (phonogram) is used, such as on the radio or on television. In this case, in addition to composers and publishers, interpreters, musicians and record companies are also paid their dues.

Featured Brazilian Artists

On streaming platforms and the radio, “sertanejo” composers (Brazilian country music) dominate the rankings of authors with the highest revenues. Singer-songwriter Marília Mendonça (“Infi el”) tops the list of digital audio platforms, followed by Thales Lessa (“A mala é falsa”) and Juliano Tchula (“Cuida bem dela”).

In the Live Music segment, which accounts for what was played in bars and restaurants, Thallys Pacheco (“O nosso santo bateu”) features alongside traditional MPB names like Djavan, Renato Russo, Lulu Santos and Tim Maia.

2018

ANNUAL
REPORT

ABRAMUS