APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston is elected as chair of board of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), the global network of authors’ societies.
Announced Thursday afternoon, May 29th, Ormston becomes just the second Australian ever elected to the helm of CISAC in its 99-year history. The other was his predecessor at APRA AMCOS, Brett Cottle, who held the CISAC role from 2006-2010.
Based at the APRA AMCOS headquarters in Ultimo, Sydney, Ormston has led the Australasian PRO since 2018. Currently, the organisation represents over 124,000 songwriters, composers and publishers, and in October 2024 reported group revenue of $740 million, an all-time result up 7.2% from the corresponding period the previous year.
At the same time, distributions came in at $634.1 million, up 6.5%, on an expense-to-revenue ratio of 14.32%.
At CISAC, a main focus of Ormston’s tenure will be ensuring a fair and thriving future for creators in a shrinking world of Gen AI and digitalisation.
“Being elected chair of the CISAC board at such a pivotal moment for creators worldwide is an honour,” Ormston comments in a statement, announcing his new role.
“As the creative economy enters a new era shaped by AI and global digitalisation, the opportunity to secure a fair and thriving future for creators has never been greater.”
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Ormston succeeds Marcelo Castello Branco, CEO of Brazilian society UBC, who completed six years of service chairing the board.
Creators, Ormston continues, “are central to the cultural, social and economic fabric of every nation. Each country has a responsibility to nurture its own cultural voices by ensuring a strong copyright framework and enabling creators to share in the value generated by innovations such as Generative AI.”
Additionally, Ormston is one of 20 leaders from the creative industries and academia invited to join the Steering Committee of the Attorney-General’s Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Reference Group (CAIRG). Ormston’s appointment at CISAC accompanies a raft of new board appointments, coming at a time when the confederation is intensifying its work to improve music data systems, support policy development, and promote fairer conditions for creators in the digital economy.
He joins SOCAN CEO Jennifer Brown, who is elected for second term as vice-chair, and VG Bild-Kunst director general Urban Pappi, elected vice-chair.
CISAC published a global study last December, which re-iterated international calls for credit, consent and fair remuneration for songwriters and composers. In August of the same year, APRA AMCOS published its own AI and Music report, which illustrated the need for a global policy response that ensures transparency, fair compensation and more.
CISAC advocates for 227 member societies in 116 countries. All told, confederation represents over four million creators of music, audio-visual, drama, literature, and visual arts.
Based in Paris, the organisation is presided over by Björn Ulvaeus, a co-founder of ABBA who wrote the group’s hits with his bandmate Benny Andersson. The pop legend was appointed to the role in 2020, succeeding Jean-Michel Jarre, the pioneering French electronic composer and musician who served as president for seven years, pursuing higher royalties and better terms for creators.
“CISAC’s global network is uniquely positioned to amplify the voice of these creators to decision-makers across the world,” says Ormston. “I look forward to working with the new Board and the entire CISAC community to champion creators’ rights, further develop our services, and empower societies and their members to lead in this rapidly changing global market.”