Our content is an inextricable part of the fabric of every Europeans daily existence, at all stages of our lives. The ubiquity of the content we create sometimes makes it all too easy to take its importance for granted. We inform ourselves through newspapers and news media, travel to work listening to music, relax with films, books, magazines, and watch, on average, almost four hours of TV a day.
The Creative and Media Business Alliance (CMBA) is an informal grouping that gathers some of Europe’s top media and creative businesses and industry associations. It was launched in November 2004 to give the sector a strong and united voice at the level of the European Union.
For 12 years now, the CMBA has been a key partner and contributor in the on-going relevant debates for our sectors in Brussels. We notably call upon the European Commission, the European Parliament and the 28 EU Member States to focus on the creative and media businesses in their joint efforts to foster innovation, growth and employment in the Information Society.
The sectors represented by the CMBA are more than a mere driver for technology development or an “added value” to the European Digital Agenda. They lie at the heart of the digital society. Discover the CMBA’s publication “Create. Engage. Inspire”
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.
This mission is what makes our industry unique and forms the cornerstone of our activities, each and every day. In today’s world, the internet amplifies freedom of expression. As it crosses cultural and political boundaries, it provides a stage for global events and debate with global audiences. Freedom of expression has never had greater potential and never has it been more important to maintain the freedom to publish and distribute creative content.
2 eJobs, investment, innovation and diversity
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 talent show hopeful 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.
3 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.
The CMBA’s mission statement is also available in French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Spanish and Swedish.
Contact us
You can contact the CMBA secretariat by email: secretariat@cmba-alliance.eu