After twelve years at the helm of The Worldwide Independent Network (WIN), the global forum for the professional independent music industry, Alison Wenham is stepping down as Chief Executive of the organisation.

Prior to joining WIN full time in 2016 Alison was the CEO of The Association of Independent Music (AIM), the organisation she started in 1999 in response to business, creative and market access issues faced by the independent sector across the world.  WIN was also set up under Alison’s leadership initially as an informal global network in 2006 in response to global threats and opportunities. Through WIN and with MERLIN, the value of independent rights around the world has been firmly and definitively established. The sector also benefitted from the introduction of the Fair Digital Deals Declaration in 2014, which has become the gold standard for fair dealing with artists. 

During Alison’s time as CEO of WIN the organization has played a vital role in gathering intelligence so that its members have a global overview of the key issues affecting the independent sector while ensuring that challenges are anticipated and confronted before they become a problem.

The annual WINTEL Report, commissioned by WIN and now in its third year, maps global market share and has become the most accurate measure of the continued health and growth of the independent sector.

WIN has also held collection societies around the world to account and continues to press for the independent sector to be formally represented in the governance of collection societies while monitoring their efficiency, accuracy and transparency.

WIN will continue to confront and fight market abuse around the world and seeks to maintain a level commercial playing field while preventing large corporations from creating an anti-competitive environment.

Alison Wenham said, “It has been a pleasure and a privilege to devote two decades of my life and career to helping ensure the stability and continued growth of the independent music sector. Since launching AIM in 1999 I have stood shoulder to shoulder with amazing friends and colleagues as, together, we set out and then delivered a new era of respect for the role and importance of the sector. We changed attitudes towards the sector across the world, and ensured that independent music copyrights are now recognized and valued.  I am immensely proud of all we have achieved in that time and independent music will remain a passion of mine. I have decided, however, that the time is now right, with the organization in good health, to step down from my position at WIN. I want to thank everybody I have worked with over the years for their incredible support.”

Martin Mills, current WIN Chairman, said “Alison has been a force of nature for all of us, and a central factor in indies being able to compete worldwide with companies many times their size. As she moves on, she leaves us strong and thriving, and looking forward to many fruitful seasons. For that we are eternally grateful to her”