The GEMA General Assembly - the centre piece of the association!

Once a year, GEMA members meet in order to decide on future issues of their association. The three-day General Assembly of GEMA constitutes the heart of the community of solidarity among 85,000 members and is vital for a strong internal democracy. Members need to be able to actively exchange opinions via their contributions on items of the agenda, discuss matters with each other, network and co-determine their GEMA. After all, the meeting thrives on a personal exchange on site and has been a set date in the diary of many members for years.

The 2022 GEMA general meeting was held as a hybrid event for the first time after members had met purely virtually in the past two years due to the pandemic. The experience and advantages of a digital participation were successfully implemented into the format of a face-to-face event on site. In a very short space of time, GEMA developed a hybrid meeting format providing members with all necessary components for digital and physical participation, direct mutual communication and voting. As such, GEMA is, once again, a pioneer among the collective management organisations.

The members took the opportunity to be present on site and to exchange ideas in person again. A number of members also chose the option to participate digitally in the events. The active participation of the members is essential because it is their decisions and their votes that help shape the future of GEMA together.  

In 2020 and 2021, GEMA managed to enable this exchange and this kind of contribution virtually because the General Assembly was held in virtual space only due to the pandemic. Through a technologically sophisticated, certified system, members were able to discuss items during the live transmission of the meetings, connect via video contributions and decide on motions via live voting features or elect the nominated candidates into the committees. The main assembly as well as the separate meetings of the professional categories (composers, lyricists and publishers) took place in virtual rooms. About 1,000 composers, lyricists and publishers had met this way.