South African musicians are making waves around the world.
With everyone from DJ Black Coffee to the Parlotones performing on stages in
the four corners of the globe, South African talent is doing a great job of
getting local tunes beyond the country’s borders. When they do, the job of protecting
their rights and collecting royalties from these performances on their behalf
falls to a dedicated group of people who work behind the scenes at SAMRO.
Yet SAMRO says many musicians don’t realise they’re entitled
to these royalties, or don't notify SAMRO when they will be performing abroad.
Which means many of our musicians could be missing out on some valuable extra
income.
SAMRO is an internationally affiliated music rights
collection society that manages the music rights of its members. It’s their job
to see that South African musicians enjoy the fruits of their labour by
collecting royalties on their behalf whenever their music is used publically -
anywhere in the world. Membership is free and once admitted, SAMRO members
receive royalties and benefits from their protected musical works for life.
In terms of international copyright law, all authors and
composers who perform abroad enjoy ‘performing rights’. This entitles them to
earn royalties collected from music usage licence fees paid by the venues in
which they perform. This is over-and-above any agreement that they might have
between themselves and the venue.
So, even if you are paid for the performance directly by the
venue, your membership with SAMRO and SAMRO’s international affiliation
entitles you to royalty payments from the performance. Yet, because most
composers and authors don’t notify SAMRO when this happens, they often don’t
receive these royalties.
Says Christine Reddy of SAMRO’s International Affairs
department: “A lot of musicians who travel don’t know that they should notify
SAMRO. Sometimes we only learn about their performances through media reports
or on social media platforms. With so many new musicians going overseas, we’re
worried that a lot are losing out on royalties they are rightfully entitled to.
We run ongoing workshops to help members understand how we go about collecting
royalties from societies overseas and pass them on to the music creators, but
more needs to be done to spread this message.”
As SAMRO members, musicians only need to inform SAMRO’s
International Affairs department of the dates and venues of all the
performances planned, along with the contact details of the venue organisers.
You should also submit a detailed set list for each performance. This gives
SAMRO’s team the information they need to follow up after your event to ensure
that every musical note you play is turned into currency notes in the form of
royalties.
SAMRO’s International Affairs team orchestrates everything.
Contacting sister societies in other countries to check if the venues you are
performing in are licensed for public performances and following up to check
that appropriate performances are surveyed by the societies’ so that royalties
would be forthcoming. The International Affairs team will maintain contact with
the music rights society in each country to determine when your royalties will
be released, and you will be advised when to expect performance royalties from
SAMRO. If you have performed abroad recently, SAMRO can even retrospectively
collect royalties for past performances up to a year previous.
There’s more good news for those who have performed in the
United States in the last year. These musicians have the opportunity to enjoy
an additional payment as part of the ASCAP Awards program. This is not a
competition or award ceremony, but a reward program for musicians who have
performed in the USA.
To apply, contact the SAMRO International Affairs department
before the ASCAP closing deadline of January 15, 2013. Find out more about the
ASCAP awards on www.samro.org.za
Christine explains, “To qualify for an ASCAP payment, SAMRO
members need to contact us and provide details about each performance and provide
as much supporting documentation as possible. This includes dates and times of
performances, advertising material if possible, performance agreements with
venues, and contact details. A number of SAMRO members have already received
payouts under this scheme and we appeal to all members to come forward if they
have performed in the United States between October 1 2011 and September 30 2012.”
Much is being done to keep members informed, but perhaps the
loudest voice could come from the musicians themselves. SAMRO has established
social channels for musicians to share their story with friends and colleagues
on Facebook, Twitter and on their website. Inviting all fans of SA Music to
join the conversation and help musicians get more out of their music by raising
awareness of international performance royalties.
For more about international performance rights, or SAMRO
membership International Affairs phone 011 712 8299, email: international.affairs@samro.org.za
or visit www.samro.org.za
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