Short info
Freibank is an innovative, independent music publisher fiercely committed to delivering the best possible service to the writers and publishers it serves.
Founded in 1986 by musicians unconvinced by slow and inefficient music publishing practices, we have been working at the cutting edge of music publishing for more than 30 years.
More & Faster
To maximise the income for our writers and partners, we consistently improve traditional practices and utilise technological developments.
For example, we:
- Set up multiple direct collection society memberships from one administrative hub in the 1980s – giving us many years of experience with that approach before it was attempted by other companies,
- Introduced direct collection of mechanicals from labels in BIEM territories,
- Introduced quarterly instead of the traditional (and still widespread) semi-annual accounting,
- Reduced accounting and statement terms from customary 90 to 65 days,
- Utilized music recognition software for royalty tracking as soon as it became sufficiently reliable,
- Set up one-stop multi-territorial online licensing with significantly reduced commission rates for publisher and writer shares.
Continuously reviewing and improving collection and distribution, we offer partners highly sophisticated and reliable global copyright administration based on our deep understanding of existing structures and future challenges.
Independent Strength
A significant proportion of the royalties and data distributed by collection societies is, unfortunately, inaccurate. This is caused by multiple challenges - missing or incorrect metadata, incompatible data standards and accounting systems, insufficiently maintained databases, high volumes of new works with incomplete documentation, and, regrettably, insufficient incentives for collection society staff.
These are challenges faced by all market participants – and it is the role of publishers to address such shortcomings for the writers they represent. But these challenges can only be addressed by publishers with genuine knowledge of the music in their catalogues, awareness of how it is used, and with sufficient internal resources. Major and investor-driven publishers, having amassed control over vast catalogues, have simply lost that ability for more than a tiny fraction of their works1.
We believe that a dedicated, knowledgeable team in control of an adequately sized catalogue is the prerequisite for delivering a highly personalized, efficient service to our partners. We analyse the requirements of each writer to set up a tailored global organisation of copyright administration – and we take pride in the fact that any writer or publisher we work with can contact us and expect a timely and knowledgeable personal response to queries.
Creative Services, Sound Advice
As well as over 30 years as publishers, our team have years of experience running labels, and working in artist management, film production and music supervision. This broad set of skills gives us a thorough understanding across the music business, and how best to pitch and manage our catalogue when working with our colleagues across the industry.
We are experienced and trustworthy partners and advisors for our artists. Understanding where writers are in their career, we provide tailored support– from arranging suitable co-writes, to offering advice on licensing, PR, marketing and general management matters.
We have had the good fortune to work with many successful artists. A common factor of their success is the support these artists receive from committed and knowledgeable teams. Whether artists use us selectively for administrative matters, occasional advice and assistance or management duties – we are proud to serve as useful members of such teams.
Licensing
Freibank is an in-demand source for music usages, providing music and music supervision for film, games, and advertising. Our success in this area is driven by tools like the acclaimed “for films” series, now in its 20th year of publication, and by the establishment of fast, efficient and fair licensing procedures.
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1 Just listening to million songs once would take all the working hours of some 37 years. Creative staff can only know a tiny fraction of these huge catalogues, admin staff cannot meaningfully track usages of millions of songs.