STIM, the Swedish collective management organization (CMO) turned 100 last fall — and its results for 2023 are giving it another reason to celebrate. The organization took in a record-high 3.095 billion Swedish Krona (SEK) ($291.9 million, based on a 2023 average krona-dollar conversion rate), up 14.2% from the previous year, the CMO announced May 28. It also announced that it would distribute 2.573 billion SEK ($242.6) — up almost 20% from 2022.
The Swedish CMO has always been much smaller than giant counterparts such as SACEM (the French collecting society) or PRS for Music (UK), due to the country’s comparatively smaller population and economy. But Sweden has always punched above its weight in pop music, especially when it comes to songwriting, and STIM is more important than its size would indicate. Along with PRS and GEMA (Germany), STIM owns and controls the joint venture ICE, the Berlin-based licensing and processing hub that has become an important force in European copyright.
STIM’s biggest source of licensing revenue was online, which accounted for 43% of its total, counting both Swedish and direct international licensing. The second biggest source was foreign revenues, which accounted for 30%, followed by TV (9%), background (7%) and live (4%). Of those sources of income, live and background revenue were up 13%, while multi-territory online revenue rose 27%.
STIM’s annual report also includes reports of progress on other fronts. After extended negotiations, the CMO can now pay out several years of royalties from HBO and Disney+, and the conclusion of another deal means that the organization will have new rates for live music by January 2025. The CMO also weighed in on the issue of AI music in the report “Music, AI and Copyright.”
The most played song of the year in Sweden was “Babblarnas vaggvisa,” by Anneli Tisell, Johan Rask and Hasse Sjölander, according to the annual report.