Lithuania 3.5.4

There is no systematic policy on the music industry in Lithuania. The Lithuanian Ministry for Culture shapes and supports only national or state music organisations that are seen as a part of the performing arts sector (see chapter 3.3 for more information). The popular music industry, its value chain and ecosystem are not analysed, shaped or supported by any state institution. Nevertheless, there are some important public initiatives that aim to systematise the information about the Lithuanian music industry and disseminate it abroad. One of them is Music Information Centre Lithuania (MICL). The Centre was set up in February 1996 as the information and publishing branch of the Lithuanian Composers’ Union. In 1998, it became a member of the International Association of Music Information Centres. From 2001, the centre has been functioning as a public body (its founder being the Lithuanian Composers’ Union) that realises recordings of Lithuanian composers and publishes the scores of their work, accumulates and updates information on them in a database, catalogues and archives their compositions.

In 2006, the Centre began to implement the project Music Lithuania, which aimed to represent the Lithuanian music industry at international music expos. Since then, the Centre organises Lithuania’s national stands at international music industry expos, disseminates and promotes compilations of music, coordinates concerts of music by Lithuanian composers and performers abroad, as well as presents information on various musical genres on its website.

The online database of MICL contains information on Lithuanian composers, songwriters, improvisers, sound artists and performers (with more than 400 profiles with catalogues of compositions and / or a discography). The Manuscripts Archive consists of the scores and individual instrument parts of orchestral, chamber and choral classical and contemporary works by Lithuanian composers (with almost 6 000 original manuscripts or copies of them). The Sound Archive consists of classical and contemporary music by Lithuanian composers (more than 7 600 unreleased recordings and about 2300 releases). The library holds published scores (almost 5 000 works), as well as books, periodicals, photographs, etc.

The other public organisation of the Lithuanian music industry is the Lithuanian Music Business Association, which was established in 2015. It unites several companies of management and event organisation from the music industry and seeks to encourage and support cooperation between their members in order to achieve common goals in the fields of education, export and lobbying. The main project of the Association is an international showcase festival and conference on innovations and new opportunities in the music industry (What’s Next in Music?), organised annually together with Arts Fabric “Loftas”.

Despite the lack of a systematic policy of the music industry in Lithuania, there is a huge number of music composers and performers that take part in 45 regularly occurring music festivals. Lithuanian cities and villages regularly host about 18 classical music festivals, 11 jazz, 11 folk, 5 pop rock and 5 electronic music festivals. Some of them are partly funded by municipalities, the Lithuanian Council for Culture or private sponsors.

Lithuanian municipalities have orchestras, jazz bands and folk ensembles that are financed on regular basis. Music projects are regularly funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture, which also has a grant programme for individual music performers and composers.

Lithuanian music creators and performers also earn income from copyright. Three organisations work in this area: LATGA, AGATA, and AVAKA. LATGA (Lietuvos autorių teisių gynimo asociacijos agentūra) is Lithuania’s collective management organization for authors’ copyright. It represents creators of music (composers and lyricists), literature, visual arts, drama and more. LATGA licenses uses like public performance, broadcasting, online communication, reproduction (including reprography) and sync, then collects and distributes royalties to authors. It also administers the private-copying levy for authors and maintains work registrations so users can actually identify and clear rights. Beyond collections, LATGA does policy and education to keep copyright rules usable in real life.

AGATA is Lithuania’s collective management organisation for neighbouring rights—it represents recording artists (performers) and phonogram producers (labels). It licenses the public use of recorded music (in shops, venues, radio/TV, etc.) and collects the statutory remuneration from users. The money is then distributed to rightsholders according to verified usage data and legal rules. AGATA also administers private-copying levies and provides practical guidance to businesses on lawful music use.

AVAKA (Audiovizualinių kūrinių autorių teisių asociacija) is Lithuania’s collective management organisation for audiovisual authors— film/TV directors, screenwriters, cinematographers, and other creators of screen works. It licenses the secondary use of audiovisual content (broadcast, cable retransmission, public communication, copying, etc.) and collects/distributes royalties to those authors. AVAKA also manages the authors’ share of the private-copying levy and negotiates tariffs with broadcasters, platforms, and venues. They handle repertoire data and claims so rightsholders actually get paid for real-world uses.

Table 24: AGATA – collected royalties for the public use of music (per issued VAT invoices)

Source: AGATA activity reports, LATGA activity reports