In the world of music, or more precisely "classical" or "serious" or "concert music" - several designations apply and several genres are included - a rumor went around some time ago that has since been confirmed: The board of the "Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und Vervielfältigungsrechte" (GEMA) wants to abolish the separation between "E" (for "serious") and "U" (for "light music"). In the more than 100-year history of GEMA, which was founded on the initiative of a group of composers led by Richard Strauss, this would mean a paradigm shift that has nothing to do with the original founding idea, namely to protect the copyrights of "serious" composers and secure them a basic income. Take a look for yourself and read the press release from the RKM (Rectors' Conference of Universities of Music) below. For further information, we also refer you to the article "An attack on the land of music" in the FAZ of February 27, 2025, page 11 and a FAZ guest article by Elmar Fulda and Christian Fischer from May 13, 2025.

For the University Board,

Prof. Dr. Christoph Wünsch, President

Press release RKM from March 28, 2025

Open letter from the German conservatoires on the planned GEMA reform

The Rectors' Conference of the German Universities of Music in the HRK (RKM) has written an open letter to the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board of the German GEMA (Society for Musical Performing and Mechanical Reproduction Rights). In this letter, the RKM expresses its deep concern about the currently planned GEMA reform, which it believes has not been sufficiently discussed. It would put young composers in particular at a serious disadvantage on their path to professionalism and could have unforeseeable consequences for the music scene and German music academies. The chairman of the RKM, Prof. Christian Fischer, comments: "We firmly reject the apparently planned abandonment of the previous principle of solidarity in favor of predominantly commercially oriented collection and distribution rules. As those responsible for the German music academies, where the reform would endanger the existing composition courses and certain branches of study, we appeal to GEMA to postpone the reform by at least one year due to the many unresolved issues. According to the planned new rules, even such a prolific composer as J.S. Bach, who composed almost exclusively for the low-collection area of church music, would no longer be able to become a full member of GEMA and would therefore hardly receive any income from his compositional work."

You can find the complete open letter here.