Swissperform
SWISSPERFORM is the Swiss collective management organization for neighbouring rights, collecting and distributing tariff-based royalties to 19,777 performing artists, producers, and broadcasters across Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1993
- HeadquartersZürich, Switzerland
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Swissperform does
SWISSPERFORM is the sole Swiss collective management organization (Verwertungsgesellschaft) dedicated exclusively to neighbouring rights (Leistungsschutzrechte) for performing artists and producers in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein. Founded in 1993 and headquartered at Kasernenstrasse 23 in Zurich, the organization serves five rights-holder constituencies — audio performers (musicians, singers, conductors), audiovisual performers (actors, dancers, voice-over artists), phonogram producers (record labels), audiovisual producers (film/TV producers), and broadcasters — with a 2020 membership of 19,777. Its core activity is negotiating tariff-based royalty agreements with rights users (broadcasters, streaming platforms, cable operators, etc.) and their associations under the Swiss Copyright Act (LDA), collecting the resulting revenues, and distributing them to members net of an 8.68% administration cost ratio (2020).
The organization's technology stack comprises a Performers and Recordings Database tracking audio and audiovisual recordings, the Apollon distribution system launched in 2025 as a major IT modernization (described internally as a 'quantum leap' replacing legacy allocation infrastructure), and the myswissperform member portal launched in 2025 — a password-protected, two-factor-authenticated digital gateway through which members access statements, register performances, and exchange documents electronically. Complementary offerings include Discography and Filmography registration forms, an annual Cultural and Social Fund (Kultur- und Sozialfonds) of approximately CHF 5.7M, the annually awarded PRIX SWISSPERFORM acting prize at the Solothurn Film Days, and the 'respect ©opyright!' educational school campaign. Members also benefit from international reciprocal agreements with sister societies including PPL (UK), NUOVOIMAIE (Italy), and Peermusic/Global Master Rights, coordinated through SCAPR, enabling cross-border royalty collection that individual rights holders could not achieve unilaterally.
Commercially, SWISSPERFORM generates revenue through tariff-based licensing on a usage-based, annually billed model negotiated with user groups and their associations — most notably the new common tariff TC 14 for video-on-demand platforms activated in January 2022. In FY2020, gross tariff revenues reached CHF 59,174,858.92. The organization is structured as a private Swiss association (Verein) under state supervision, with no external parent, no public listing, and no venture capital or private equity involvement; governance is exercised through elected delegates from the five rights-holder groups, with a comprehensive committee reform ('Variante 5plus') adopted in June 2024 and effective January 1, 2025, and a new Managing Director, Olivier Gremaud, appointed effective September 1, 2025.
Swissperform firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Swissperform
- Legal name
- SWISSPERFORM
- Website
- https://swissperform.ch
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1993
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- SWISSPERFORM is the Swiss collective management organization for neighbouring rights, collecting and distributing tariff-based royalties to 19,777 performing artists, producers, and broadcasters across Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Swissperform industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Collective Rights Management
- NAICS
- Sound Recording Industries (5122), Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries (512), Motion Picture and Video Distribution (512120)
- SIC
- Services-Allied To Motion Picture Production (7819), Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Music Rights Administration & Royalty Processing (Admin, Accounting, Statements) (MPAIAKAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Neighboring Rights (Master Performance Rights) Administration (MPAIAAAH), Performance Rights Administration (PRO Affiliation, Cue Sheet/Setlist Processing) (MPAIABAE), Public Performance/Neighboring Rights for AV Uses (Cue Sheet & Reporting Services) (MPAIALAK), Global Rights Representation & Sub-Publishing/Reciprocal Collection Services (MPAIAKAI), Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) & Public Performance Licensing (MPAIAKAA)
Keywords
Where Swissperform is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Zürich
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Swissperform business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Tariff-based Licensing (Neighbouring Rights Royalties): SWISSPERFORM collects neighbouring rights royalties from broadcasters, streaming platforms, cable operators, and other users of recorded performances. Fees are negotiated as tariffs with user groups and their associations. Revenue is distributed to members (performers and producers) after deducting administration costs.
- Video on Demand Tariff (TC 14): Since January 2022, a new common tariff (TC 14) obligates streaming platforms (Netflix, Playsuisse, etc.) to pay royalties for audiovisual works. SWISSPERFORM collects and distributes these royalties to performers and producers involved in Swiss productions.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Annual | Tariff-based royalties for broadcasters and platform operators |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Swissperform product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Swissperform administers the neighboring rights (Leistungsschutzrechte) of performers and phonogram/video producers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It grants licenses for the use of protected music and audiovisual performances to commercial users such as broadcasters, streaming platforms and public venues, and it collects tariffs and redistributes the resulting royalties to its registered rights-holder members.
Product overview
SWISSPERFORM is a collective management organization for neighboring rights ( Leistungsschutzrechte) operating in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It manages the rights of two artist groups — audiovisual performers (actors, dancers, speakers, etc.) and phonogram performers (musicians, conductors, singers) — as well as phonogram producers and audiovisual producers. The organization negotiates tariffs with rights users, collects royalties, and distributes them to rights holders. Its product portfolio centers on the myswissperform member portal (the primary digital gateway for members to access statements, submit registration data, and communicate electronically with SWISSPERFORM) and the Apollon distribution system (the modernized backend for allocation and royalty payments). Members use Discography and Filmography forms (online and Excel-based) to register their performances and recordings. Complementary services include Cultural and Social Funds (approximately CHF 5.7M annually in project support), the respect ©opyright! school awareness campaign, and a Music Business section.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Neighboring rights licensing (collective license to commercial users)
- Royalty collection and distribution to rights-holder members
- myswissperform member portal
- Apollon distribution system
Quantifiable outcome
- CHF 59.2 million in gross tariff revenues collected and distributed in 2020, with a net administration cost ratio of only 8.68%
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Swissperform
Customer profileNamed customers17 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Swissperform technology and API
TechnologyAPI detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Swissperform partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and regulatory.
- Peermusic / Global Master RightscoreSWISSPERFORM engaged Peermusic (through Global Master Rights) as the international claiming agency for phonogram producers, to pursue royalty claims for Swiss producers from foreign usages of their sound recordings.
- PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited, United Kingdom)corePPL is the UK collective management society for phonogram producers. SWISSPERFORM signed its first reciprocal agreement in the phonogram producers sector with PPL in early 2023, enabling the mutual exchange of royalties for uses in each other's territories, effective retroactively from the 2022 usage year.
- NUOVOIMAIE (Italy)coreNUOVOIMAIE is the Italian collective management society for audiovisual performers. A new reciprocal agreement was concluded immediately before the 2022 holiday season, enabling mutual exchange of royalties for audiovisual performances between Switzerland and Italy.
- SCAPR (Swiss Council for Artists' Rights – Global Umbrella Organization)coreSCAPR is the worldwide umbrella organization of collective management societies managing performers' rights. SWISSPERFORM is a member and was represented at the 50th SCAPR General Assembly in Ljubljana in May 2025. SCAPR coordinates international standards including the VRDB (Voice Repository Database) initiative, which SWISSPERFORM hosted a workshop for in March 2023.
- SIS – Schweizerische Interpretenstiftung (Swiss Performers Foundation)majorSIS is a Swiss foundation supporting performing artists. SWISSPERFORM collaborates closely with SIS, including co-funding the SWP-Nothilfefonds (COVID-19 emergency fund) for performers impacted by the pandemic, and co-running the 'Zweites Standbein' (second income stream) continuing education programme and the 'Retour sur scène' (back on stage) initiative to support artists post-pandemic.
- IGE – Eidgenössisches Institut für Geistiges Eigentum (Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property)regulatoryIGE is the Swiss federal authority for patents, trademarks, geographical indications, design protection, and copyright. SWISSPERFORM collaborates with IGE on policy matters including the CLTR (Creative Licensing, Technology and Rights) conference series addressing AI and platform economics, and co-sponsored the CLTR 2024 event at Congress Center Basel.
- Suissimage (Swiss Cooperative Society for Audiovisual Rights)coreSuissimage is the Swiss collective management society for audiovisual authors' rights. SWISSPERFORM works with Suissimage for the distribution of audiovisual neighbouring rights royalties, with distribution calculations based on Suissimage's broadcast data. Audiovisual producers declare their works to Suissimage for SWISSPERFORM royalty purposes.
- IRF – Interessenverbund Radio und Fernsehen (Radio and Television Interest Group)coreIRF is the association of national and foreign radio and television broadcasters in Switzerland. SWISSPERFORM has a management contract with IRF, under which IRF handles the assertion, collection, and distribution of rights and royalties on behalf of its member broadcasters, while members retain their statutory membership rights with SWISSPERFORM.
- SUISA, SSA, ProLitteriscoreOther Swiss collective management societies covering authors' rights (SUISA for music composers/writers, SSA for dramatic authors, ProLitteris for visual arts and literature). SWISSPERFORM works alongside these societies for the video-on-demand tariff TC 14, where authors' royalties are managed by Suissimage, SSA, and ProLitteris respectively, while SWISSPERFORM handles the performers' share.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Swissperform competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Adami: French collective management society for performing artists in audiovisual and recorded music. Functionally analogous to SWISSPERFORM for neighbouring rights collection and distribution across performer and producer categories in France.
- PlayRight: Belgian collective management society for performers' neighbouring rights. Comparable to SWISSPERFORM as a Benelux CMO with both audio and audiovisual performer mandates, operating under a similar EU-aligned copyright framework.
- GVL (Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten): German collective management organization for neighbouring rights, covering both performers and producers. The largest DACH analogue to SWISSPERFORM and the natural regional comparable for scale, scope, and tariff-based licensing model.
- LSG (Leistungsschutzrechte Vergütungsgesellschaft): Austrian collective management organization for neighbouring rights. The closest geographic and German-language-speaking peer to SWISSPERFORM, comparable in mandate, member base structure, and tariff negotiation process.
- Spedidam: French collective management society dedicated to performers' neighbouring rights (particularly for music and audiovisual). Comparable to SWISSPERFORM in mandate scope (performers only) and regulatory oversight by French authorities.
- NUOVOIMAIE: Italian collective management society for audiovisual performers. Concluded a reciprocal agreement with SWISSPERFORM for audiovisual neighbouring rights exchange between Switzerland and Italy; operates the same CMU-style mandate structure for performers in its home market.
- PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited): UK-based collective management society for phonogram producers and performers. Direct counterpart to SWISSPERFORM for phonogram neighbouring rights; SWISSPERFORM signed its first reciprocal phonogram-producers agreement with PPL in 2023, making it the most directly comparable peer in structure and function.
- Sena: Dutch neighbouring rights society for performers and producers in recorded music. Direct structural analogue to SWISSPERFORM with a tariff-based licensing model and reciprocal agreements across Europe.
Others
- Suissimage: Swiss cooperative for audiovisual authors' rights (directors, screenwriters). Partner rather than competitor; SWISSPERFORM works with Suissimage for distribution of audiovisual neighbouring rights, with Suissimage providing broadcast data used for SWISSPERFORM's royalty calculations.
Broad incumbents
- SCAPR (Societies' Council for the Collective Management of Performers' Rights): Global umbrella organization of collective management societies managing performers' rights, of which SWISSPERFORM is a member. Not a CMO itself but the coordinating body for VRDB and reciprocal exchange standards across all performer CMOs.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Swissperform social profiles
Digital presenceSwissperform compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Swissperform financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Swissperform leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Swissperform funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Swissperform 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 Swissperform
What does Swissperform do?
Swissperform administers the neighboring rights (Leistungsschutzrechte) of performers and phonogram/video producers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It grants licenses for the use of protected music and audiovisual performances to commercial users such as broadcasters, streaming platforms and public venues, and it collects tariffs and redistributes the resulting royalties to its registered rights-holder members.
Is Swissperform a public or private company?
Swissperform is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was Swissperform founded?
Swissperform was founded in 1993. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Swissperform based?
Swissperform is headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does Swissperform make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Tariff-based Licensing (Neighbouring Rights Royalties) is the primary driver. The others are video on Demand Tariff (TC 14).
Who are Swissperform's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Adami, PlayRight, GVL (Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten), LSG (Leistungsschutzrechte Vergütungsgesellschaft), Spedidam, NUOVOIMAIE, PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited) and Sena. Suissimage is listed as an others. SCAPR (Societies' Council for the Collective Management of Performers' Rights) is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Swissperform have an API?
No public API is recorded for Swissperform.
What industry is Swissperform in?
Swissperform's product category is Collective Rights Management. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAIAKAD, Music Rights Administration & Royalty Processing (Admin, Accounting, Statements), with a secondary code of MPAIAAAH, Neighboring Rights (Master Performance Rights) Administration. Its NAICS code is 5122 and its SIC code is 7819.