As part of IMPALA’s Faces of the Independent Sector storytelling series, co-funded by the European Union, and celebrating our 25th anniversary, we are sharing the tenth interview in the series with Colm Hanley, Managing Director of AIM Ireland.
IMPALA has released its sixth Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Report, highlighting progress made over the past year and the work still ahead.
We, the undersigned organisations representing Europe’s music sector, oppose the
proposed 30% cut to the budget of AgoraEU. We urge Member States and the Irish
Presidency to restore at a minimum the Commission’s proposed budget, work
towards Parliament’s higher ambition, and secure dedicated, ring-fenced funding for
music in the EU’s 2028–2034 budget.
This article, which was featured in the WIN Annual Report 2025-26, highlights the key aspects of WIN’s collaboration with its European member IMPALA as part of its EU-funded network programme. You can also read the featured interview with IMPALA’s Executive Chair Helen Smith.
WIN has announced the program and speakers for WINCON 2026, its annual global conference for the independent music community. Taking place from November 9–11 in Toronto, Canada, the conference will mark WIN’s 20th anniversary, bringing its global community together to reflect on two decades of collaboration and to shape the future of independent music.
As part of IMPALA’s 25th anniversary programme #WhyIndependentsMatter at So Alive Music Conference in Sofia, IMPALA travelled with a delegation of members to discuss shared priorities and highlight the work of the independent sector across the region.
This month, Merlin marked the completion of another successful year of Merlin Engage, its flagship mentorship initiative created to champion, celebrate, and connect female leaders across Merlin’s global independent music community.
This month, Merlin marked the completion of another successful year of Merlin Engage, its flagship mentorship initiative created to champion, celebrate, and connect female leaders across Merlin’s global independent music community.
This month, Merlin marked the completion of another successful year of Merlin Engage, its flagship mentorship initiative created to champion, celebrate, and connect female leaders across Merlin’s global independent music community.
WINHUB JAZZ & GLOBAL MUSIC is a business learning and networking event bringing together companies working with jazz & global music artists and repertoire in their catalogues taking place on November 25 & 26. It is an exclusive benefit for independent music companies that are members of WIN and IMPALA and co-funded by the EU.
IMPALA’s Strategic Primers’ project with Music Ally (supported by Merlin) is all about maximising streaming opportunities for independents. Our Primer #11 on D2F & community platforms is now out. Join us on 29th October for a Q&A session with Music Ally.
IMPALA expanded its network and honoured the late Patrick Zelnik at its annual meeting last week in Dublin where it also held the second edition of its European Independent Music Summit.
As part of IMPALA’s Faces of the Independent Sector storytelling series, co-funded by the European Union, and celebrating our 25th anniversary, we are sharing the ninth interview in the series with Mariana Voronina, CEO and co-owner of Best Music, a member of the Ukrainian Music Companies Association SPILNA.
IMPALA’s Strategic Primers’ project with Music Ally is all about maximising streaming opportunities for independents. Our Primer #11 on D2F and community platforms is now out.
Patrick Zelnik, one of the key figures in the French music sector also played a key role at European level with IMPALA. The organisation paid tribute this afternoon.
We’re pleased to share IMPALA’s latest reports as part of our Digital Forward project, co-funded by the European Union and run in partnership with Complete Music Update (CMU).
IFPI today announced the launch of the Streaming Integrity Initiative (SII), a new industry commitment to combat streaming fraud and protect artists, songwriters and fans from its harm. SII establishes a set of baseline practices for industry players to help prevent, detect and respond to streaming fraud.
IMPALA is organising an online session for members to take a closer look at the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) toolkit and how its different tools can be used in practice.
As part of IMPALA’s Faces of the Independent Sector storytelling series, co-funded by the European Union, and celebrating our 25th anniversary, we are sharing the eighth interview in the series with Mark Kitcatt, co-owner, director and manager of Everlasting Records and Popstock Distribuciones, chair of WIN (Worldwide Independent Network) and co-chair of IMPALA’s streaming working group.
The Music Climate Pact together with Seismic today announce essential industry training ahead of key incoming legislation on communications around green sustainability: Navigating Sustainability & Green Claims in the Music Industry.
The Music Climate Pact together with Seismic today announce essential industry training ahead of key incoming legislation on communications around green sustainability: Navigating Sustainability & Green Claims in the Music Industry.
Earlier this month IMPALA’s digital music plan recommended excluding materially AI generated content from algorithms and royalty pools, with tracks generated by unlicensed tools not uploaded in the first place.
Artist and label groups in Europe, and our counterparts in the USA and other parts of the world: we all have a shared interest in maximising the revenue of artists.
Today, IFPI, RIAA, A2IM, WIN, IMPALA, The Grammys, SAG-AFTRA & Human Artistry Campaign, representing a broad spectrum of recorded music creators and companies around the world, announced a unified approach to voluntary track labelling to give fans clearer information about the use of generative AI (GenAI) in sound recordings.
IMPALA, the independent music sector trade body in Europe, has issued a new plan to transform the digital music market. Referring to the fact that the sector is about to reach one billion subscribers on streaming services, IMPALA notes this is “something to celebrate” and at the same time flags that there is significant potential for the market to become “larger, fairer, more diverse and transparent.”
The Music Climate Pact (MCP) has teamed up with music streaming service Deezer to publish Sound Choices – a best practise guide on how all of us as music fans can reduce the impact our streaming has on the environment without lessening the listening experience we all cherish.
WIN presents the MLC Directory, a new resource that compiles information on Music Licensing Companies (MLCs), the collective management organizations responsible for distributing performance rights revenues to record labels.
As part of IMPALA’s Faces of the Independent Sector storytelling series, co-funded by the European Union, and celebrating our 25th anniversary, we are sharing the seventh interview in the series with Caroline Hansen, Head of Operations at Warp Records, IMPALA sustainability task force member and co-chair of the Music Climate Pact digital working group.
Join the next Digital Forward webinar from CMU and IMPALA where we will explore how independent labels can leverage streaming platform tools to market releases.
IMPALA is pleased to publish the latest edition of its One Step Ahead report series, The Short Form Video Market and the Moment Economy, written by CMU.
Merlin has announced a series of senior promotions within its Partnerships team.
IMPALA is pleased to welcome HERMES (Hellenic Music Companies Association), the official association dedicated to representing Greece’s independent music companies as its newest association member.
It’s IndieWeek time in New York, congratulations to Ian Harrison and Lisa Hresko for their first edition as A2IM’s CEO and COO. Come and find us IMPALA at the A2IM AGM, at WINHUB and the Libera awards as well as at the conference.
a group of independent music companies and record labels have come together to back music app start-up Cantilever. The support package includes investment of £250,000 from twenty investors, made up of independent record labels and individual investors from those labels.
As part of the European Commission’s conditions for approving Universal Music Group’s acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings, Curve Royalty Systems has to be sold and news in today is that UMG has agreed a sale with Merlin and Matt Spetzler’s Jamen Capital, ensuring the royalty platform returns to independent ownership.
Originally published in English earlier this year, WIN is now making the Executive Summary available in 5 additional languages (Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese, and Korean) so that trade associations, independent music businesses, and stakeholders worldwide can use it to advocate for targeted regulation and sector collaboration.
IMPALA co-signed the following statement, signed by 26 European music organisations, welcoming the draft European Parliament report on AgoraEU proposing to introduce a dedicated music strand.
Through our Organisation with a Cause scheme – co-funded by the European Union through our EU network grant – IMPALA’s sustainability task force is proud to collaborate with FÉLIN-led record recycling initiative, ReDisco.
As part of IMPALA’s Faces of the Independent Sector storytelling series, co-funded by the European Union, and celebrating our 25th anniversary, we are publishing the sixth interview in the series with Andrea Lacroix, Head of Sync and Licensing at !K7 Music.
IMPALA is excited to announce that the winner of its 2026 Changemaker Award is Popkollo, a Swedish organisation that runs music camps and activities for girls and trans youth. The camps are mainly targeted at 10 to 18 year olds, but are also open to women and trans people over 18.
Alianza de Discográficas Independientes de Colombia (ALDISCO) has officially joined the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN), the global network of trade associations that represent thousands of independent music businesses worldwide.
Join the next Digital Forward webinar from CMU and IMPALA where we will explore how independent labels can leverage streaming platform tools to market releases.
IMPALA welcomes the draft report by MEP Rapporteurs Emma Rafowicz and Alice Kuhnke on the future AgoraEU programme, which will replace the current EU “Creative Europe” programme for the cultural and creative sectors from 2028 onwards.
Merlin, the global digital music licensing partner for the world’s leading independent labels and distributors, has announced a series of senior promotions within its Membership team, underscoring its deep commitment to supporting and developing its membership globally.
Timed to coincide with European Diversity Month and ahead of Europe Day this weekend, IMPALA is releasing today its action plan for an industrial policy for culture in Europe. This also comes at an important time for the EU which is in the process of implementing its Culture Compass, determining its budget priorities for the years 2028-2034 and reviewing its approach to key policies impacting culture.
The EDI taskforce is pleased to invite you to a one-hour online roundtable in the context of European Diversity Month, with a focus on UK Music’s Black Music Means Business report.
To kick off European Diversity Month, IMPALA is launching its second Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) survey for the independent music sector. The aim of the IMPALA survey is to provide a snapshot of how the sector deals with these issues, the key challenges it faces, as well as an assessment of how businesses and associations assess their own diversity and gain an overview of best practices, local developments and projects in the field of EDI.
Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) has published the initial findings of its BRIDGE project, an initiative launched in 2025 to bridge the digital divide and strengthen independent music companies across Asia, Latin America, and the WANA region.
On Friday, 24th April, the European Commission published their UMG-Downtown deal approval decision. IMPALA welcome the publication and will be reviewing the decision to determine next steps and consider whether an appeal or other action is required.
This week in Brussels, IMPALA joined policymakers, cultural stakeholders, and experts at the European Commission’s conference on the discoverability of diverse European cultural content in the digital environment
As part of IMPALA’s Faces of the Independent Sector storytelling series, co-funded by the European Union, and celebrating our 25th anniversary, we are publishing the fifth interview in the series with Céline Lepage, general manager of FÉLIN, the French federation of independent labels and distributors, and team member of Born Bad Records.
Interesting parallels this week between the independent music sector’s views on the risks of concentration and two other equally important sectors – live music and film.
IMPALA is pleased to announce the release of its second report as part of our new Digital Forward project, co-funded by the European Union, titled: ‘Digital Marketing for Independent Record Labels PART 2 – Mastering On-Platform Strategies’. This report turns to what happens inside the streaming platforms themselves, looking at algorithms, geographic specificities, market penetration, platform tools, and more.
“It is testament to the innovation in the independent sector that Revelator has been bought by Warner. As we have consistently said, all independent businesses need good exit options. Big players are important in all markets, and we hope that this will see more competition among the majors. At the same time, the trend continues whereby labels and artists who made a conscious choice to go with an independent partner, now find themselves with a major and the independent ecosystem loses another chunk of its infrastructure. That’s bad news for artists, fans, and Europe’s diversity as whole…
As part of IMPALA’s Faces of the Independent Sector storytelling campaign, co-funded by the European Union, and celebrating our 25th anniversary, we are publishing the fourth interview in the series with Luciano Winter, founder and CEO of Stormi Capital, board member of the Dutch independent music association, STOMP.
A new generation of artists working with independent labels from across Europe has been selected for the fifth edition of IMPALA’s 100 Artists to Watch programme for 2026. Presented in partnership with YouTube and co-funded by the European Union, the initiative highlights the creativity, diversity, and innovation shaping the future of Europe’s independent music landscape.
IMPALA’s Strategic Primers’ project with Music Ally (supported by Merlin) is all about maximising streaming opportunities for independents. Our Primer #10 on SoundCloud is now out. Join us on 3rd December for a Q&A session with Music Ally.
The European association of independent music companies calls on European Commission to speed up its work to ensure European performers and labels do not lose revenues to countries who do not have the same level of protection, and urges EU to use trade pressure to raise the level of protection worldwide.
The European Parliament adopted today a report on copyright and generative AI, led by MEP Axel Voss.
At its spring meetings in Madrid, IMPALA has agreed priorities for its 25th anniversary year to build on the business case for the independent sector, set out in Dan Fowler’s report from early February ‘Powering an Independent and Culturally Diverse European Music Ecosystem’.
