LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD from GEMA

In 2009, Peter Thomas received the first German Music Authors’ Award from the collecting society GEMA for his life’s work. The jury honored him for his diverse work and his formative influences on compositional work.

In his legendary speech, he addressed clear words to the German collecting society GEMA and demanded a quick intervention and revolt of all parties to counteract the digital mechanisms without payment. This was in times of music piracy, downloads and the first signals of a digital world, with which the music industry had to struggle and still does. Peter Thomas speaks clearly about his views on the subject at the time: