MUSICAL royalties is seen by many as the musician’s pension. It refers to money to be collected or being collected for works of music done in the past. The subject matter may not be as simple as the average person sees it because first one has to understand the different types of royalties. There are writer’s royalties, producer’s royalties and label owner’s royalties. So depending on what role you play in the industry will determine the area of collection for which you are qualified.

    Mechanical royalties is another term you may come across when dealing with the subject matter. This basically refers to the physical sales of records. So in other words, a creator whether it be a writer or a composer or someone who build beats or write lyrics — they collect mechanical royalties — from the physical sales of records. These same persons would collect performance royalties from the physical playing of the music in any medium whither it be television or radio.

    To understand performance royalties you have to see the performer as the person who plays the instruments and not the person singing the song. The person singing the song would rather be entitled to what is termed ‘related rights’ unless they are also the composers, writers, label owners or producer.

    Musical royalties are not collected by the individuals concerned (although they can). The person entitled to royalties will first have to join a collection society that will administrate on their behalf. The two named collections organisations in Jamaica presently are the Jamaica Association of Composers Authors and Publishers (JACAP) and the Jamaica Music Society (JAMMS). According to Augustus ‘Gussie’ Clarke who is a board member of both organisations, “JACAP has taken over from the Performance Rights Society (PRS)and JAMMS took over from International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and must not be seen as sub agency of any other external entity. They are the national collection agency for label owners and producers.”

It should be understood that persons are at liberty to join whichever international collections society they please and many Jamaicans musicians do. But, whatever the local societies collect they have bilateral arrangements with societies all over the world and would remit those monies to them.

It should be noted that any creator who assigns the rights to a music publisher can collect but it would be much more cumbersome, for let us say, a radio station to be accounting individually to music publishers. So this is where JACAP and JAMMS become most effective.

Who pays musical royalties?

    Anybody who uses music in any commercial environment/setting for their benefit should pay. Example, if COK has their offices and they have onhold music, COK has to pay, by law, to JACAP. They are using music that belongs to somebody so they should get a license. Any hotel, club bar sound system or any medium that utilise music has an obligation under the law to pay.

    Jamaica is however seen as a noncompliant royalty payment place. “We have a culture where we are not used to honouring that obligations and a lot of people do not understand it, some don’t want to understand it. I personally think that there is about a 90 per cent of non-compliance,” Clarke highlighted.

    Veteran songwriter, producer and singer Bob Andy who came through the great Studio One movement of the late 1960’s has suffered tremendous difficulties in collecting royalties for works done under that label and with other seminal producers of the time.

    “If anyone can get away with piracy, they will. As far as royalties from Studio One is concerned. Song Book was compiled in 1972 and to this date I have not received a statement,” Bob Andy said.

    “I have not received any mechanical royalties or artiste royalties or publishing royalties. I did not have a recording contract with Sir Coxsone and so they were not obliged to pay … So I keep hearing that Song Book hasn’t been a big seller and I would not have much to get anyway…” he further stated.

    Bob Andy was quick to point out that music download is the new order of the day. People are mostly selling records digitally. He cautions young music business aspirants to be “careful who they are entering into business with” and advises that they “get a lawyer”.

    Understanding royalties as part of an ariste’s career is kind of like “food in the pot”, as Gussie Clarke aptly puts it. “It is the mainstay of part of being an artiste,” he says.

    (Teddy Laidley is an entertainment consultant with years of experience with touring musicians and event production. Email him with your comments suggestions, and questions at: discussion@insidethemusic.biz.)