Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique (SACEM) is a French

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that profession, and t ...

collecting payments of artists’ rights and distributing the

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical th ...

s to the original

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

s, composers, and music publishers. Founded in 1851, it is a non-profit non-trading entity owned and managed by its members according to the business model of a cooperative.

History

Composers Ernest Bourget,

Victor Parizot Victor Parizot (18?? – 26 March 1860) was a 19th-century French composer. With Ernest Bourget Ernest Alexandre Joseph Bourget (10 March 1814 – 2 October 1864 in Thomery (Seine-et-Oise aged 50 ) was a 19th-century French playwright, lyricis ...

and Paul Henrion in Paris in 1847 (see

1847 in music Events *February 28 – Fire breaks out during a performance and destroys the Großherzoglichen Hoftheater in Baden. Most of the audience perishes because the theatre doors cannot be opened from the inside. * March 3 – ''I Lombardi alla prima ...

) succeeded in having payment made for their works which were being played in the leading café-concert at the time, Les Ambassadeurs. The French courts recognized these legitimate rights founded in revolutionary laws. The provisional union of authors, composers and publishers of music was thus established in 1850, and one year later, the professional union became a society (société civile) of authors, composers, and publishers who divided the author's rights collected amongst the members, and this rule has been maintained to the present day. SACEM first had 350 members when it was founded in the 1850s, distributed between authors, composers and publishers of music. This period was marked by the start of the urban revolution, the growth of metropolises and the progression and multiplication of café-concerts. A century after SACEM's foundation, the number of its members was multiplied by 170. In 1963, SACEM developed cultural action to aid musical creation, the dissemination of works and integration of young professionals. Every year, over a million works are registered with SACEM.

Grands Prix Sacem

Every year, following a vote by the Board of Directors, the Grands Prix Sacem are awarded to authors, authors-directors, composers and music publishers who are members of Sacem. Since 2006, the ceremony celebrates outstanding contributions in songwriting, music publishing, classical contemporary music and humor.

References

External links

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Official website
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Official website
Sacem Music licensing organizations Arts organizations established in 1850 {{music-org-stub