Ivan Zuber From 22D Music Group Talks Music Publishing plus Bands Buzzing In Berlin

Hello Ivan! How are you? Where are you from and what do you do? 

Hi everyone! I’m fine thank you. I am from France by I have worked in Berlin for the past year and a half now. 

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How long have you worked at 22D, and what do you do there? 

I’ve worked with 22D Music since I moved to Berlin. I came here specifically to work with this music publishing group. I work on two fronts, as a Copyright Manager for our catalogue of films, that is to say that I make sure that musicians from all the films that we represent are correctly registered with each country’s organization for collections (here it’s GEMA, in France it’s SACEM). I make sure that once films are distributed they will become a source of revenue for artists, publishing houses, and all the copyright holders. 

The second part of my work is Creative Manager/Music Supervisor. I am in relation with artists from our label (we are also a label) and with our different partners: press, graphic design, production, other labels, etc. And for the Music Supervisor part, I try to discover new talents that have a “synchro” potential (which means that we can put their music in films, TV series, ads, etc) to propose publishing deals to them, and also to propose our artists to audiovisual productions and other projects when they are searching for music.

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What are the biggest challenges to managing copyrights on the web today? 

Web-based copyrights are not really our thing, we are oriented towards film and TV, which are really the media that bring the most money for artists today. But the web also has its importance! I would say that one of the biggest challenges is to target illegitimate uses of music on the web. It is much more difficult to know if a website is using music without having asked for the rights than a TV channel which is much more regulated! 

Additionally, the big challenge of copyrights on the web is that the internet is like the “6th continent” borders are fluid, uses are too. There is still so much to study around that but it’s exciting! The web is no longer the future, it’s here now! 

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Tell us about the music scene in Berlin, are there groups that are buzzing right now that you follow? 

The music scene in Berlin is incredible. It’s in part what drew me to this city, there is a real artistic energy, a freedom of expression and music. Definitely in the world of electronic music but not only that, for me Berlin is the new New Orleans where you discover awesome stuff every night if you want! 

But, that makes for some fierce competition for the groups: of course everyone wants to have their word, but to get out of the pack you have to have something more! 

Recently I had a truly interesting experience: an evening at the Berlin Philharmonic with the opening act “L’Ensemble de Berlin” who interpreted two concertos during their casual concert, followed by an experimental concert/DJ set in the lounge of the Philharmonic. That is Berlin: you go to a classical music concert and get electronic in the same night! People love all sorts of music here, I am definitely in the right place!

I discovered a fabulous artist thanks to that: Broken Twin, a Danish minimalist duo led by a singer with a magnetic sensibility and nostalgia. 

A group that’s buzzing here? No need for an introduction but Apparat’s last concert “Krieg und Frieden” is one of the best live experiences that I’ve experienced. It is very intimate but I hope that it will keep going that way! I have a lot of other names but I invite you come here to discover them :) 

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