IFPI, the organization that represents the recording industry worldwide, has revealed that Frances Moore will retire from her position as Chief Executive Officer at the end of 2023.
As IFPI’s longest-serving leader, Moore has led the trade body since 2010.
IFPI said on Thursday (July 20) that Moore has agreed to remain with IFPI until the end of 2023, “in order to assure a seamless transition and help in the global search for her successor”.
IFPI and its National Group network represent some 8,000 members, including record labels of all types and sizes from 70 countries around the world.
A barrister by profession, Moore joined IFPI in 1994 as Regional Director for Europe, following many years representing American and European companies in the retail and electronics sector.
In 2021, Moore was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her services to the music industry.
In a written statement, the IFPI Main Board said: “We thank Frances for all of her many accomplishments navigating IFPI through arguably the most demanding and complex period of modern music’s history.
“We thank Frances for all of her many accomplishments navigating IFPI through arguably the most demanding and complex period of modern music’s history.”
IFPI Main Board
Added the IFPI Main Board: “At once, she has led us through music’s digital transition and the industry’s expansion worldwide, enabling a return to growth that mutually benefits artists, labels and the broader music ecosystem.
“Not only has she herself been an excellent and effective advocate for labels and creators, but Frances has built an incredible team of professionals to assure that her legacy will carry on.”
“I have loved working for IFPI and the recording industry and feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve in this role.”
Frances Moore
Moore said: “After three decades with IFPI, thirteen of which as its Global CEO, it is time for me to hang up my spurs! I have loved working for IFPI and the recording industry and feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve in this role. I am very proud and appreciative of the IFPI team, both now and over the years. Every achievement has been the result of a team effort.
She continued: “I have had the good fortune of living through so much of the industry’s transformation from analogue to digital. On my first day at IFPI thirty years ago, I was dealing with legislation on blank tape levies and here we are today dealing with legislation on AI!”
IFPI cites a number of the trade body’s achievements during Moore’s tenure as CEO.
Amongst them were the enactment of the European Union (EU) Copyright Directive in 2019, and the extension of EU copyright protection for sound recordings from 50 years to 70 years in 2011 in Europe. IFPI then leveraged this to achieve term extension in Japan through the EU-Japan FTA.
IFPI notes other achievements during this time as: [The] Establishment of broadcast and public performance rights in China in 2020 “after years of engaging with authorities there, a critical reform in a recorded music market that is now the fifth largest in the world”.
IFPI notes that the same rights were implemented only recently in Singapore, lobbied by IFPI through the EU-Singapore FTA.
Under Moore’s leadership, IFPI notes that “it increased broadcast and public performance rights revenue from USD $1.3 billion in 2011 to USD $2.5 billion in 2022, and combated “stream manipulation via a ‘Code of Best Practice’ and bringing legal action against streaming manipulators in markets from Brazil to Germany and beyond”.
Moore also led IFPI’s successful legal actions to block access to copyright-infringing websites in countries from India to Italy. Some 5,200 sites are now blocked through IFPI actions, according to the organisation.
According to today’s announcement, IFPI’s outgoing CEO also “expanded IFPI’s organizational infrastructure to ensure that the organization is well placed to campaign for rights holders in a range of fast-growing markets”.
In addition to its main office, IFPI now has six regional offices: Southeast Asia, MENA, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Europe, Greater China and representatives in Vietnam and South Korea);
In 2022, IFPI signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UAE Ministry of Economy with the commitment to establish a Music Licensing Company in the region after several decades of campaigning;
Aso during Moore’s tenure as CEO, the org established the IFPI Global Charts, the industry’s official annual ranking for the best-selling artists.
Additionally, IFPI launched the Official MENA Chart, the first official regional chart, alongside supporting the introduction of music charts in many territories; there are now official charts in some 55 countries worldwide.Music Business Worldwide
