The European Commission launched a proposal which would imply that collecting societies willing to engage in the multi-territorial licensing of their repertoire have to comply with European standards. According to the Commission, some collecting societies struggle to adapt to the requirements of the management of rights for online use of musical works, in particular in a cross-border context. The main objective of the proposal is to make easier music licensing in the Single Market.

Collecting societies, in particular in the music sector, collectively manage the licensing of copyright-protected music tracks for online use on behalf of composers and lyricists and collect and redistribute to them corresponding royalties. However, some collecting societies struggle to adapt to the requirements of the management of rights for online use of musical works, in particular in a cross-border context. Therefore, the European Commission proposed measures for those collecting societies willing to engage in the multi-territorial licensing of their repertoire and to comply with European standards. In September 2011, collecting societies signed a MoU including key principles agreed to make possible more out-of-commerce books.

The Commission also stressed that the need for a change of certain practices was highlighted by recent cases where royalties collected on behalf of rightholders were lost due to poor investment policies, but also by evidence of long-delayed payments of royalties to rightholders. Thus, collecting societies operating in all sectors would have to comply with new European standards providing for improved governance and greater transparency in the conduct of their activities.

There are more than 250 collecting societies in the EU that manage revenues of around €6 billion annually. The use of rights in the music sector accounts for about 80% of the total revenue collected by collecting societies. Collecting societies act as intermediaries between rightholders in the music industry but also in other art forms like books or films, and the service providers intending to use their works. They license rights, collect royalties, and redistribute revenue to the rightholders in circumstances where individually negotiating licences with individual creators would be impractical and entail high transaction costs.