ABRAMUS continued in 2016 as the country's largest copyright association in number of members, representing 57,000 rights holders in Brazil and abroad.
Correct and consistent documentation was one of Abramus' primary and most important goals during the year. ABRAMUS was the association that most documented repertoires in the ECAD system at national level, as was also the case in international documentation. It is the flawless work of the Documentation department that guarantees that it is possible to identify their authors and carry out the appropriate distribution of copyrights collected. 1,022,272 works were registered, in addition to 628,693 phonograms and 8,854 cue-sheets.
With the exponential growth of audiovisual works, one of the focuses in 2016 was in the attendance and affiliation of composers of soundtracks, especially for TV and Cinema. Without neglecting the excellent service for rights holders, a trademark of the Artistic & Repertoire department, 6,285 new members were affiliated during the year, a growth of more than 10% compared to the previous year.
The International Copyright department has invested in the repertoire of its members abroad, strengthening relationships and improving techniques. There are more than 190 regions, covered by 81 contracts signed with copyright associations around the world. Over the last 6 years, Abramus received more than R$ 17 million from abroad. In 2016, it received R$ 2,531,463.97, involving more than 2,878 rights holders represented by ABRAMUS.
In 2016, France, Portugal and Chile signed performance contracts with Abramus for Related Rights, which include the categories of Performing Musician. In this way, the companies Adami, GDA and SCI began representing Abramus members in their countries while Abramus represents their rights holders in Brazil. These contracts are part of the already consolidated partnerships with PPL (England), Sena (Netherlands), Sami (Sweden) and CPRA-Geidankyo (Japan), totaling more than 30 contracts with foreign companies. In the United States, Abramus rights holders are represented by SoundExchange. It is worth noting that another 32 companies,
from different countries, chose Abramus to manage the rights of their artists in Brazil.
Improvements in technology and support tools led to significant gains and increased transparency, interaction and dynamism. The ABRAMUS Portal is one of the many important tools that allow members to analyze their repertoire in order to identify, request and monitor payments and to visualize amounts already received, in a simple and timely manner. The Association, in turn, substantially reduced the flow of e-mails, paper and correspondence, factors that have reduced our operational costs. Another important project that should be highlighted is the Music Management System, an internal Association tool, which underwent several modifications and improvements. In addition, new technology projects were developed to provide improvements and benefits for members and the improvement of internal and external processes. It is technology in constant evolution to foster development.
The Theater & Dance department