SUISA

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.

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

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

• Music rights management
• Royalty collection
• Music licensing
• Copyright administration
• Collective management

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. 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.
2. 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

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core 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

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Mint Digital ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint 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.
• SESACcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUS music rights organization partnering with SUISA to establish Mint Digital Services joint venture for digital music rights management services.
• International Sister Societies (100+ organizations)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerReciprocity agreements with over 100 collective management organizations worldwide enable SUISA to protect members' rights abroad and offer global repertoire to Swiss music users.
• CISACmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational 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 ConsortiummajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium of five Swiss collective management organizations (SUISA, ProLitteris, Suissimage, SSA, SWISSPERFORM) that collaborate on common tariffs and joint lobbying for members' rights.
• ProLitterisminorOthersSwiss collective management organization for literature, photography, and visual arts.
• SuissimageminorOthersSwiss collective management organization for audiovisual works (films).
• Société Suisse des Auteurs (SSA)minorOthersSwiss collective management organization for theatrical and audiovisual works.
• SWISSPERFORMminorOthersSwiss collective management organization for rights of performing artists and producers of music and films, as well as broadcasting companies.
• FONDATION SUISAmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNon-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

Broad 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

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCCpQ-n6rLeDvlE2T7MHHukA
• Facebookfacebook.com/suisamusicstories
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urheberrecht
• Instagraminstagram.com/suisamusicstories

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SUISA