During an extra meeting of the General Assembly yesterday, Hein van der Ree was appointed CEO by means of a closed ballot. Cees van Rij was appointed deputy CEO. Hein van der Ree: “I am very pleased that the General Assembly has agreed to my appointment. I am looking forward to represent the interests of the 18,000 lyricists, composers and publishers who comprise the membership of Buma/Stemra. With the internet and the creativity in which music is being offered on the web, I see it as a challenge to best serve the interests of creative writers and composers in this rapidly changing digital era.” Cees van Rij: “I am very enthusiastic about my appointment. Copyrights is a topic of much debate and is under close scrutiny in the Netherlands and in Europe. Buma/Stemra follows the developments closely and will anticipate on future decisions and changes with the interests of our members put in first place.”

Hein van der Ree (56) has been director of Epitaph Europe BV since 1995 and he has previously held positions at Hollywood Records International, Phonogram Records UK and Island Music Publishing UK. Van der Ree is a member of the board of industry organizations Impala and Merlin. Both organizations represent the interests of several thousand independent music rights holders.
Chairman of the board Konrad Boehmer: “We are very pleased that Hein van der Ree takes on this important job within Buma/Stemra. Van der Ree has extensive experience in the music industry and advocacy of music rights and has the knowledge and experience to lead Buma/Stemra into the future. The Board sees in him the ideal candidate for the position. We are also delighted about the appointment of Cees van Rij in his new position.”

The Board wishes to express its gratitude to the current CEO, Cees Vervoord, for his dedication and tremendous contribution to the development of the organisation in the fifteen years that he has served Buma/Stemra. A farewell party will be organized for Cees Vervoord on June 21st.

About Buma/Stemra

Buma/Stemra is the collecting society for music in the Netherlands. Buma/Stemra represents the interests of music authors worldwide and promotes Dutch music as an international product. Music authors can transfer the commercial exploitation of their music copyright to Buma/Stemra. Keeping track of who is using their music can be a lot of work for music authors to do theirselves. Buma/Stemra will do this job for them and makes sure music authors receive remuneration for the use of their creations. One of the things we do to ensure this is by signing agreements with music users.

Contact for the press:

For more information please contact:
Antoinette de Ridder
Telephone:+ 00 31 (0) 23) 799 75 80 / Cell Phone: + 00 31 (0)6 – 55 834 796
E-mail: antoinette.de.ridder@bumastemra.nl