British virtual-reality startup MelodyVR has announced its latest set of deals this morning: with various European collecting societies.
The agreements, covering use of songwriter copyrights in MelodyVR’s upcoming service, are (so it claims) the first such deals to license a VR service. They cover rights in Germany, the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Greece, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
The societies involved are GEMA, MCPS, PRS for Music and STIM (through the ICE licensing hub) as well as AEPI in Greece; BUMA/STEMRA in the Netherlands; SABAM in Belgium and SUISA in Switzerland. All are multi-year agreements.
“Although the music licensing landscape is a particularly complex environment, maintaining all of the necessary rights required for content distribution and monetisation ensures that our company is uniquely positioned to benefit from the increasing consumer demand for VR entertainment content,” said CEO Anthony Matchett in a statement.
The societies join all three major labels as ticked off on MelodyVR’s licensing checklist, as it prepares for a commercial launch of its app possibly by the end of 2017.
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