SUISA
SUISA is the Swiss collective management organization for music copyrights, serving ~46,000 composer and publisher members and ~120,000 music user licensees through licensing, work registration, and quarterly royalty distribution across Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1923
- HeadquartersZürich, Switzerland
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What SUISA does
SUISA, legally 'SUISA, Genossenschaft der Urheber und Verleger von Musik,' is the statutorily designated collective management organization for musical works in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Founded in 1923 as a cooperative (Genossenschaft) under Swiss private law, it serves approximately 45,984 members (composers, lyricists, arrangers, and music publishers) and roughly 120,000 registered music users, including businesses, event organizers, broadcasters, restaurants, and online platforms. The organization operates under regulatory oversight of the Federal Intellectual Property Institute (IPI) and benefits from a bilateral reciprocity network of over 100 international sister societies, enabling global repertoire access for Swiss licensees and protection of Swiss creators' rights abroad.
SUISA's core operations revolve around three activities: licensing music usage under tariff structures, registering works in a database of more than 47.3 million entries, and distributing collected royalties quarterly to entitled rights holders. Its technology stack centers on the 'Mein Konto' (My Account) self-service portal, a public works database, and an Azure-hosted AI assistant (KI-Assistent) launched in 2025 that responds to text-based queries about services and licensing. A joint venture with SESAC, Mint Digital Services, extends its capabilities into cross-border digital rights administration, while a wholly-owned subsidiary, SUISA Digital Licensing AG, handles online licensing of the SUISA repertoire.
Revenue is generated primarily through licensing fees from music users, supplemented by one-time membership entry fees (CHF 200 for authors, CHF 400 for publishers). As a not-for-profit cooperative, SUISA retains only administrative cost-coverage deductions from collections and distributes the remainder to rights holders. The organization has three physical offices (Zurich headquarters, Lausanne, Lugano) serving Switzerland's German, French, and Italian-speaking regions, and funds FONDATION SUISA (a non-profit promoting contemporary Swiss music) at 2.5% of its net income from domestic performance and broadcasting revenues.
SUISA firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SUISA
- Legal name
- SUISA, Genossenschaft der Urheber und Verleger von Musik
- Website
- https://suisa.ch
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1923
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- SUISA is the Swiss collective management organization for music copyrights, serving ~46,000 composer and publisher members and ~120,000 music user licensees through licensing, work registration, and quarterly royalty distribution across Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SUISA industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Music Rights Management
- NAICS
- Music Publishers (512230), Music Publishers (51223)
- SIC
- Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) & Public Performance Licensing (MPAIAKAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Global Rights Representation & Sub-Publishing/Reciprocal Collection Services (MPAIAKAI), Music Rights Administration & Royalty Processing (Admin, Accounting, Statements) (MPAIAKAD), Royalty Accounting & Payment Services (Statements, Audits, Payee Management) (MPAIABAL), Publishing Administration (Catalog Admin, Global Subpublishing) (MPAIABAB)
Keywords
Where SUISA is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Zürich
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
SUISA business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others
Revenue model
- Licensing Fees from Music Users: SUISA collects licensing fees from businesses and organizations that use music publicly (concerts, restaurants, shops, events, broadcasting, streaming). These fees are collected based on tariff structures and distributed to music creators.
- Membership Entry Fees: One-time entry fees charged to new members: CHF 200 for authors, CHF 400 for publishers. Administrative costs for rights management are covered through percentage cost-coverage deductions from royalties.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Author Membership Entry Fee |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Publisher Membership Entry Fee |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
SUISA product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SUISA is a Swiss cooperative society (Genossenschaft) that manages copyright and neighboring rights for music authors and publishers. It licenses the public use of musical works to music users (businesses, broadcasters, event organizers, venues), collects licensing fees, and distributes royalties to its ~45,984 members and international sister societies based on actual usage.
Product overview
SUISA is Switzerland's collective rights management organization for music authors and publishers, operating as a cooperative founded in 1923. Its core offering consists of licensing services (granting music users access to the global repertoire from a single source), work registration systems, and royalty distribution to rights holders. The primary customer-facing digital products are 'Mein Konto' (My Account) self-service portal for members and customers, and the online Work Registration system connected to a public Works Database. SUISA also operates Mint Digital Services (joint venture with SESAC) for digital rights management, and supports music creation through FONDATION SUISA. Revenue distribution occurs quarterly based on reported music usages and SUISA's Distribution Rules.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Mein Konto: Online member portal for music creators and music users to manage licenses, registrations, and invoices
- Mint Digital Services
- FONDATION SUISA
Products and services
- Music Licensing Services
Companies that use SUISA
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
SUISA technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability3 records
Feature3 records
SUISA partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.
- Mint Digital ServicescoreJoint venture between SUISA and SESAC (US music rights organization) established to develop new business in digital music rights management. Mint Digital Services offers administration and accounting services for digital uses of music, with special focus on online licensing. The joint venture enables SUISA to streamline digital rights management and position itself in international music rights business.
- SESACcoreUS music rights organization partnering with SUISA to establish Mint Digital Services joint venture for digital music rights management services.
- International Sister Societies (100+ organizations)coreReciprocity agreements with over 100 collective management organizations worldwide enable SUISA to protect members' rights abroad and offer global repertoire to Swiss music users.
- CISACmajorInternational Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers. CISAC is the international umbrella federation for about 230 copyright societies. SUISA representatives participate actively in CISAC committees and working groups.
- Swisscopyright ConsortiummajorConsortium of five Swiss collective management organizations (SUISA, ProLitteris, Suissimage, SSA, SWISSPERFORM) that collaborate on common tariffs and joint lobbying for members' rights.
- ProLitterisminorSwiss collective management organization for literature, photography, and visual arts.
- SuissimageminorSwiss collective management organization for audiovisual works (films).
- Société Suisse des Auteurs (SSA)minorSwiss collective management organization for theatrical and audiovisual works.
- SWISSPERFORMminorSwiss collective management organization for rights of performing artists and producers of music and films, as well as broadcasting companies.
- FONDATION SUISAmajorNon-profit foundation based in Lausanne that promotes contemporary music in Switzerland and Liechtenstein since 1989. Funded by 2.5% of SUISA's net income from domestic performance and broadcasting revenues.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
SUISA competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- BMI: US performing rights organization and direct ASCAP competitor. Comparable business model to SUISA in collecting public performance royalties and distributing to songwriters, composers, and publishers, but at materially larger US-market scale.
- ASCAP: Largest US performing rights organization with hundreds of thousands of members and a multi-million-work repertoire. While US-only, ASCAP serves as the most-cited benchmark for CMO operating scale, technology investment, and member services against which SUISA is implicitly compared.
Direct peers
- SACEM: France's designated collective management organization for music authors, composers, and publishers. Directly comparable to SUISA in mandate, cooperative-style structure, and full-stack rights administration (performance, mechanical, sync) for a national market.
- SIAE: Italy's collective management organization for authors and publishers of music, drama, and audiovisual works. Comparable to SUISA as a national statutory CMO operating with reciprocal agreements and centralized licensing and royalty distribution.
- GEMA: Germany's collective management organization for musical works, with the largest repertoire of European music rights societies. Mirrors SUISA's role as the statutory German CMO, offering licensing, royalty collection, and distribution for creators and publishers.
- PRS for Music: UK-based collective management organization representing songwriters, composers, and music publishers. Operates with a similar member-customer model to SUISA, licensing music users and distributing royalties with international reciprocity through MCPS-PRS Alliance.
- BUMA/STEMRA: Dutch collective management organization combining BUMA (performance rights) and STEMRA (reproduction rights). Closely comparable to SUISA's combined mandate and serves a similarly sized European market as a benchmark for operational efficiency.
- SABAM: Belgian collective management organization for authors, composers, and publishers. Similar in size band to SUISA and operates the same two-sided model (members plus licensed music users), making it a close structural benchmark.
- SESAC: US performing rights organization and SUISA's joint venture partner in Mint Digital Services. Highly relevant peer given the operational partnership, with comparable focus on selective membership and growing digital rights administration.
Regional players
- JASRAC: Japan's designated collective management organization for musical works. Operates the same statutory-CMO model as SUISA in a different geography, with comparable licensing categories (concert, broadcasting, streaming) and reciprocal collection arrangements.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
SUISA social profiles
Digital presenceSUISA financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SUISA leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
SUISA subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
SUISA funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SUISA M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SUISA
What does SUISA do?
SUISA is a Swiss cooperative society (Genossenschaft) that manages copyright and neighboring rights for music authors and publishers. It licenses the public use of musical works to music users (businesses, broadcasters, event organizers, venues), collects licensing fees, and distributes royalties to its ~45,984 members and international sister societies based on actual usage.
Is SUISA a public or private company?
SUISA is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was SUISA founded?
SUISA was founded in 1923.
Where is SUISA based?
SUISA is headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does SUISA make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Licensing Fees from Music Users are the primary driver. The others are membership Entry Fees.
Who are SUISA's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are BMI and ASCAP. Direct peers are SACEM, SIAE, GEMA, PRS for Music, BUMA/STEMRA, SABAM and SESAC. JASRAC is listed as a regional player.
Does SUISA have an API?
No public API is recorded for SUISA.
What industry is SUISA in?
SUISA's product category is Music Rights Management. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAIAKAA, Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) & Public Performance Licensing, with a secondary code of MPAIAKAI, Global Rights Representation & Sub-Publishing/Reciprocal Collection Services. Its NAICS code is 512230 and its SIC code is 2741.