Independent Music Companies Association

IMPALA was founded in 2000 by national trade associations and key independent labels, as a non-profit organisation dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises in the music industry.

[citation needed] On 24 September 2018, Paul Pacifico, CEO of the UK's Association of Independent Music and Michel Lambot, co-founder and Co-President of the PIAS Group, co-represented IMPALA, the body representing European indie record labels, at the expert workshop organised by the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels (BOZAR), the European Cultural Foundation and the British Council about Brexit and the cultural sector.

[9] In November 2020, The organisation announced a year long series of podcasts, playlists and other projects to celebrate IMPALA's 20th birthday on a dedicated blog page.

The approach involves creating a new cultural area with a single touring permit, instead of treating Europe as a number of distinct blocs and countries.

[19] On 29 March 2022, IMPALA launched a new programme to boost diversity in the European independent music sector in partnership with YouTube called “100 Artists to Watch”.

[23] This EU funded project aims to build new climate literacy capacity for independent music companies across Europe to help them lower their carbon footprint.

Following a month-long review process launched on the second anniversary of IMPALA’s ten-point streaming plan, the independent sector issued a new call to action in April 2023.

These include AI opportunities, streaming reform, fiscal support, growing the network in Central Eastern Europe and boosting sustainability and inclusion work.

[35] After a provisional agreement was found the week after,[36] IMPALA praised the endorsement by EU member states,[37] and subsequently the European Parliament[38] in early 2024.

In April 2024, IMPALA called for an end to the "value gap" for Tiktok and other moment economy platforms and warned of the "unintended consequences" of proposed streaming reforms across digital service providers.

[40] In April 2024, IMPALA joined the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) in their renewed set of values as part of its ongoing work to promote the collective position of the sector in today’s evolving music landscape.

[46] After raising value gap concerns earlier that year,[47] IMPALA opposed TikTok’s attempt to boycott Merlin, flagging the importance of collective deals for diversity and consumer choice.