Cannes 6 June 2018 – Last night, ICMP presented Japanese music publishing icon Misa Watanabe, with the 2018 ICMP Ralph Peer II Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music Publishing. ICMP Chair Chris Butler presented the award at a gala dinner held during Midem. The ceremony was attended by music publishers and senior industry executives from across the world.

ICMP’s Spanish member AEDEM held its 19th Convention of Music Publishers from 7 to 9 May in Caldes D’estrac near Barcelona. 

At the two-day Convention, numerous issues affecting music publishers were discussed, including their role in a global market, the world of the music supervisor and future alternatives to Collective Management Organisations (CMOs).  

A number of organisations in the creative sector, including ICMP, have called on the European Union Member States to reject recent harmful additions to the EU's copyright proposal that cancel out the progress made during the copyright modernisation.

With the European Commission due to publish its budget for the entire EU in May, the cultural and creative sectors have united in a call for an increased EU culture budget. A joint letter, also signed by ICMP, stresses the importance of culture to the social, economic and artistic development of Europe, while calling on the EU to double the current financing on offer.