Cécile Rap-Veber: ‘Culture Generates More Value in France Than the Automotive Industry’
Categoria: Musica
175 years after SACEM’s founding, its CEO reflects on her own journey, the organization’s history, its adaptation to the streaming era and its entry into the age of AI.
Por Billboard | 06/05/2026
On April 7, 2026, as SACEM (The Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music) celebrated its 175th anniversary, CEO Cécile Rap-Veber recounted the origins of the organization: “It was born out of a lawsuit whose legitimacy was undeniable. Imagine creators sitting in a café, realizing their music is being played there. When they tell the owner they’ll pay for their drinks once he pays for their music, he refuses. That lawsuit became our founding act.” Related Sacem Collected $2 Billion in 2025, Fueled by International Growth Fugees' Pras Michel Surrenders to Authorities to Begin 14-Year Prison Sentence, Vows to Appeal Ahead of New Orleans Jazz Fest, Former Police Officer Arrested for Plan to Kill Black People in a Mass Shooting Rap-Veber’s own career began in law before evolving into a long-term commitment to the music industry — first at Universal Music, then within one of the world’s leading collective rights organizations, where she has steadily climbed the ranks since joining in 2013. In 2025, SACEM distributed €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) to 663,000 songwriters, composers, authors and publishers. The organization’s primary growth driver was international digital collections, which rose 13% year-over-year, from €749 million ($880 million) to €845 million ($992 million), while collections in France remained stable at €859 million. In an exclusive interview with Billboard France , Rap-Veber looks back on SACEM’s 2025 performance and discusses the organization’s future growth prospects. “I’ve Always Been Surrounded by Culture” What was your first relationship with music? I think my parents influenced me deeply. My father was a fashion designer and used to create cassette tapes for his runway shows. Through him, I discovered American pop, disco and French variété. Every weekend, we listened to opera at home. I belong to the generation of pirate radio stations — I had my little Sony Cube clock radio when NRJ first launched. I also grew up with Michael Jackson, Human League, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Indochine, and French artists like Étienne Daho and France Gall. I listened to music constantly. Did you grow up around artists? I come from a family of creators, though not specifically musicians. One of my ancestors, José-Maria de Heredia, founded the Parnassian poetry movement. My uncle is Francis Veber, director of The Dinner Game and La Chèvre . My sister writes books, my mother was a journalist and theater director, and my father was a fashion designer. He recently told me — at 84 years old — that he had written a 350-page book. Even he has turned to writing now. I never thought I had their talent, so I chose intellectual property law in order to protect creators instead. So your early legal career was already closely tied to artistic creation? Very quickly, I was drawn to law — business law and intellectual property law specifically. I loved the idea of defending culture. In 1995, after passing the bar exam, I joined a law firm