SACEM Signs ‘Landmark Agreement’ With the Emirates Arts & Music Rights Association (EMRA)—The First Collective Management Organization in the UAE

Why It Matters

The agreement provides creators in the UAE with transparent, fair royalty collection, strengthening the country’s creative economy and attracting international music business. It also sets a precedent for collective rights management across the Gulf region.

Key Takeaways

• EMRA becomes UAE's first collective rights organization
• SACEM partners to collect authors' and neighboring rights
• Non‑profit model reinvests fees into creators
• Agreement aligns UAE with global royalty standards
• Boosts UAE's status as regional cultural hub

Pulse Analysis

The launch of the Emirates Arts & Music Rights Association (EMRA) marks the UAE’s first collective management organization (CMO), filling a long‑standing gap in the region’s music‑rights infrastructure. Until now, creators in the Gulf relied on ad‑hoc agreements or foreign societies to collect royalties, often facing fragmented reporting and delayed payments. By establishing a dedicated, non‑profit CMO, the UAE aligns itself with the European and North American models where societies such as ASCAP, PRS and SACEM centralise licensing, enforce rights, and distribute earnings efficiently. This structural shift promises greater transparency and predictability for local songwriters, composers and publishers.

SACEM’s representation agreement with EMRA leverages the French society’s extensive experience managing over 224,000 rights holders across 200 territories. The partnership introduces a bespoke framework that covers both authors’ rights and neighboring rights, a first for the Middle East. By integrating SACEM’s digital‑tracking technology and its network of streaming platforms, EMRA can capture royalties from services like Spotify, Anghami and regional players, ensuring that earnings flow back to creators in real time. The non‑profit status means administration fees are capped and reinvested, enhancing service quality without eroding payouts.

For the UAE’s broader cultural agenda, the agreement reinforces the nation’s ambition to become a regional entertainment hub. Reliable royalty collection encourages investment in local talent, concert production and film scoring, while also attracting multinational publishers seeking a clear rights‑clearance pathway. Moreover, the alignment with global standards may facilitate cross‑border collaborations, as foreign societies will recognise EMRA as a legitimate counterpart. As streaming continues to dominate music consumption, the EMRA‑SACEM model positions the UAE to capture a larger share of digital revenue, supporting a sustainable creative economy for years to come.