The Global Independent Values is a set of ten core principles representing the collective position of the global independent recorded music sector.
First published in 2012 as the Global Independent Standard, these values were renewed in 2024 through an extensive and collaborative process involving independent music businesses and their trade associations from around the world.
The points below represent the collective position of the global independent recorded music sector, put forward by WIN. All points are equal in stature and are not numbered according to any form of ranking or significance:
1. We, the independents, work to grow the value of music and the music business. Independent music businesses should have full market access and the best terms available. Anindependent copyright should be valued and remunerated at the highest level. We work to ensure that all businesses in our sector are best equipped to maximize the value of their rights.
2. We support creators’ freedom to decide how their music is used and their right to earn a living from their work, which should be respected as a basic human right. We encourage artists and independent music businesses to speak out directly against any uses of music that stifle that freedom. We expect all uses of music to be subject to authorization and fairly negotiated licensing terms.
3. We support independent music businesses who treat the artists they work with as key partners and engage with them on fair commercial terms, noting that those businesses are investors who deserve a fair financial return alongside artists. We welcome choice and the variety of business models made available to artists by independent music businesses.
4. We promote transparency and fairness across the music market, including the digital landscape. All parties are entitled to clarity on commercial terms. We work to promote responsible and fair business models that provide a dynamic and compelling future for artists, businesses and fans.
5. We support initiatives which confront market abuse and oppose over-consolidation in any part of the broader music ecosystem where it reduces market access and consumer choice. We work to promote market access and foster collective responses by independents to potentially anti-competitive conduct.
6. We recognize that all independent music businesses contribute to local culture, diversity, jobs and export opportunities, and multiply the economic success of related industries. We call on governments to promote and support the independent music sector. Access to finance and to local and international markets, tax incentives, and policies which encourage investment in music should be prioritized.
7. We champion the full adoption and protection of the rights conferred on the owners of sound recordings by international treaties in all territories. We promote initiatives to increase the transparency, democracy and efficiency of collecting societies, so that revenues are allocated and distributed accurately to their rightful owners.
8. We actively encourage and promote innovation and new commercial opportunities for music. We support the development of new, legitimate technologies, business structures and partnerships, and advocate for best practices within our industry.
9. We promote equity, diversity, inclusion and sustainability in the music sector. We encourage best practices, local developments and projects regarding diversity and inclusion as well as those which promote individual and collective action to address the climate and environmental emergency.
10. The independents work together to build a strong, ethical and united ecosystem, fostering knowledge-sharing, international exchange and cooperation, and creating opportunities for all independent music businesses and their representative bodies around the world.
