WIN Marks 20th Anniversary with Global Expansion, Connections, and Policy Wins

From new territories and projects to work on market consolidation and artificial intelligence, WIN’s Annual Report 2025-26 charts a year of expansion and advocacy for the global independent music community.

The Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) today released its Annual Report 2025-26, marking two decades of representing the global independent music sector while charting a year of growth, leadership renewal, and advocacy wins for independent labels and their trade associations worldwide.

Established in 2006 by four founding associations in Australia, Europe, the UK, and the USA, WIN has since evolved into a truly global body for the independent music sector – representing 40 trade associations across 46 territories and five continents.

This year alone, three new associations joined the network across three different continents: the Pakistani United Music Producer Association (PUMPA), Colombia’s Alianza de Discográficas Independientes (ALDISCO), and Ukrainian Music Companies Association (SPILNA) through their membership of IMPALA.

The organization also enters its third decade with a renewed board. In January, Mark Kitcatt, CEO of Everlasting Records (Spain) and a five-decade veteran of the independent sector, was appointed WIN’s new Chair. Two new vice-chair roles were created to strengthen regional representation, filled by Marty Ro (Sound Republica, South Korea) and Cecilia Crespo (ASIAr, Argentina), while Maria Amato (AIR, Australia) was re-elected treasurer.

All these developments are reflected in the special twentieth anniversary report alongside a retrospective of the defining moments that have shaped the organization since 2006.

Looking back – not just over the past 12 months, but across the full 20 years – I cannot help but feel deeply proud of what we have accomplished together. Bringing together such a diverse group of organizations and people, spanning continents, cultures, and business models, is no small feat. Yet what strikes me most is how joined up and supportive of one another this community is. The independent sector may be atomized by nature, but it is precisely because of the structure our network provides that this becomes a strength rather than a weakness. Twenty years on, WIN stands as proof that independents, together, are far greater than the sum of their parts.
Noemí Planas, WIN CEO

WIN and the other independent associations are afforded a privileged vantage point by their status as listening, rather than prescriptive associations for music producers of all sizes. The strength of this approach will see the size and influence of WIN continue to grow. Music and musicians need space, time and nurture – we will continue to work with all the many actors in the business who understand this art, and to resist the attempts to limit, to bind, to dominate, and to close off opportunity.
Mark Kitcatt, WIN Chair

Against a backdrop of pronounced market disruption, the report details WIN’s most significant advocacy efforts over the past twelve months, including the organization’s role in challenging the proposed acquisition of Downtown by Universal Music Group. Joining global concerns from across the independent music sector, as illustrated by the 100 Voices project, WIN helped underline the international nature of the risks of consolidation, alongside IMPALA who led the work in Brussels. Ultimately, UMG was obliged to divest Curve, which was subsequently acquired by Merlin and Jamen Capital.

Similarly, WIN has continued to advance its 2024 Principles for Generative AI, advocating for AI licensing frameworks built on consent, transparency, and fairness. WIN and its members successfully campaigned against the introduction of copyright exceptions in Australia, Chile, and the UK, while landmark licensing agreements (including Merlin’s deals with ElevenLabs and Udio) demonstrated that sustainable, rights-respecting AI partnerships are achievable. WIN also joined the JusticIA coalition alongside associations across Latin America.

Through its BRIDGE project, WIN expanded capacity-building efforts across Asia, Latin America, and the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region, publishing new country factsheets, a toolkit, and research highlighting the structural barriers facing independents in non-Western markets. A new WANA working group was also established this year to support the development of the independent music sector across the region.

With IMPALA’s cultural network program continuing, WIN carried out key activities connecting Europe with other regions of the world and communicating key elements of IMPALA’s work, from the business case for the sector to digital music reform to sustainability and equity, diversity and inclusion tools.

Including contributions from Ian Harrison (CEO, A2IM), Helen Smith (Executive Chair, IMPALA), Dan Nevin (VP Industry Relations, Merlin), Ruth Koleva (Chair, ANMIP & Founder of SoAlive Music Conference), and Engin Akinci (BMYD founder), the report also highlights the continued growth of the WIN Supporters program, the 10^th anniversary of WINCON held in Bulgaria, and the ongoing expansion of WINHUB, which has connected over 1,800 independent music businesses since its launch in 2022.

The WIN Annual Report 2025-26 is available for download here.