The Creative and Media Business Alliance (CMBA) is an informal grouping that gathers Europe’s top media and creative businesses and industry associations. Ranging from audiovisual, press, music, scientific publishing and literature, our industries play a central role within the European Union. According to EU Commission data points[1], the cultural and creative industries weigh 3,95% of the EU GDP and employes around 8 million people.
[1] EU Commission, Results of the 2024 survey on Cultural and Creative Industries.
1 Freedom of expression - it's our business
The creative and media industries embody and champion freedom of expression. We stand up for this freedom in courts and political debates throughout the world. We defend content such as films and books against government censorship and we protect the sources of information that make independent news reporting possible, which is a fundamental safeguard of democratic society.
As creative and media industries, we invest in professional content for distribution to the public. We select, refine, and develop what promises to be relevant for the largest possible or most clearly defined audience. We are the book deal, the recording contract, the film role or the talk show invitation, bringing diversity of content to citizens around the world.
We are innovators, finding the best way to reach our audience in any given market. We look for a return on investment, be it through direct payment, subscription or advertising. A good return on investment attracts more capital, and thus industries are strengthened and more jobs created. The income from the hit is re-invested in the unsigned band, the aspiring artist or the unpublished author. Jobs in the creative and media industries sustain local culture, require high levels of skill, and contribute directly to the Knowledge Society. They are jobs that help to shape the future.
2 Freedom comes with responsibility
As media companies and publishers, we are accustomed to taking responsibility for the professional content we offer to a worldwide audience. We comply with a multitude of laws and regulations, not only general media regulation, but specific rules such as those on financial reporting as well as the panoply of general laws on privacy, defamation, incitement, obscenity, intellectual property, competition, advertising and taxation.
Finally, we operate under extensive self-regulatory rules as well as codes of conduct which apply to the media. Our customers trust us, as major brand and trademark owners, to deliver what we promise. This is what makes our business and the freedom to publish and distribute content meaningful to the general public as well as to our customers. All rights and freedoms are limited by the rights and freedoms of others. That too is part of the freedom to publish, the essence of our business.
Contact us
You can contact the CMBA secretariat by email: [email protected]