Modern Slavery Statement From BMG - UK

BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited (“we” or “us” or “our”) is a company incorporated in England and Wales with registered number 06705101 whose registered office is situated at 8th Floor, 5 Merchant Square, London, W2 1AS. 

We are a music company engaged in acquiring, licensing and marketing recordings and songs by artists and authors, via all forms of media, including in physical and digital formats. We operate a wide range of business activities including, among other things, the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and licensing of recorded music, as well as the licensing of compositions and recordings. Some of these activities are managed through affiliates, distributors, licensees, joint venture partnerships and third party service companies. 

We are the UK operation of BMG, the international music division of global media, services and education corporation, Bertelsmann. We are owned by Bertelsmann UK Limited, which is in turn owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co KGaA. 

We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our own business or in any of our supply chains. 

We are committed to improving our practices to combat slavery and human trafficking and have taken the following steps: 

We continue to adopt the Bertelsmann Code of Conduct (which was updated last year) which sets out the principles of all Bertelsmann companies (including us) and which employees are obligated to adhere to. Those principles include respect for human rights and the protection of health and environment, both of our employees and of third parties with whom we have business relations. 

All new employees are required to undertake an online training course to ensure they understand the Code of Conduct contents and agree to comply with its terms. In addition, all employees were required within the last fifteen months to undertake online training on the updated Code of Conduct to ensure they continue to understand and comply with its terms. 

We continue to provide employees with training in a wide range of compliance matters, and we are currently arranging bespoke training to take place later this year for our employees who have specific responsibility for engaging suppliers. The aim of that training is to ensure that our employees are fully aware of the issues surrounding modern slavery and to reinforce the need for vigilance in this area and for any concerns to be reported through our various reporting channels available (including via our internal Speakup system which is available in multiple languages and accessible by phone or internet). 

We also adhere to the Bertelsmann Supplier Code of Conduct which sets out the mandatory minimum requirements for our business partners (including, among others, our suppliers, distributors and sales partners). These requirements reiterate the importance for responsible and ethical behaviour towards employees, business partners, society and the environment, in addition to complying with the law in the course of our business activities. 

We continue to distribute the Bertelsmann Supplier Code of Conduct and continue to review our business, our supply chains and our partners to ensure our values are upheld. 

We also continue to engage various representatives across different departments within BMG UK to discuss our practices, identify any additional training that is required and offer colleagues the opportunity to highlight any potential risks. To date we have no evidence that our supply chain is not complying with our standard minimum requirements set out in the Bertelsmann Supplier Code of Conduct. 

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 for the financial year ending 31st December 2022. 

Effective June 30, 2023

Download signed copy of Modern Slavery Statement