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More royalties for local artists

2018-02-08  Staff Report 2

More royalties for local artists
Staff Reporter Windhoek-Apart from local artists depending on annual royalties from Nascam the organisation also collects levies for general licencing from all music users around the country, that include; jukebox operators or owners, hotels, restaurants, lodges, bars, shopping centres, stores, nightclubs/ discos, public and private schools, sports clubs, live music concert organisers, just to mention but a few.  General licencing clearly states the owner or operator of an establishment where music is publicly performed is required to obtain the advanced authorisation required for the performance of copyrighted music on the premises from Nascam.  New Era understands that each establishment around the country pays a different tariff, which determines their licence fee per annum. In turn, artists can only expect some sort of payout once the general licencing collections are done. ‘Blanket licence’ collections only top up royalties’ collection, when that year’s collection has a surplus and the administration was minimal, and the Nascam board of directors agrees to add each and every member of the society to the list of beneficiaries.  When this reporter asked if any local artists have ever benefited from this sector of revenue, John Max CEO of Nascam responded in writing that, “Local songwriters always benefit in different ways, like receiving royalties, be able to register their musical works on a professional process system that links their music to the international database, … collections used for the total running the operation of the organisation for them to have a sense of belonging …these are some of the benefits that artists couldn’t see and understand until one has to explain in detail to them.”  Nascam has collected payments for general licencing for 2017, but can only reveal the figure once the auditing process is done in the first quarter of the year. Members of the organisation are then only informed at their Annual General Meeting in July about possible payouts.  Max added, “When NASCAM started with its operations, it was supposed to start with a grace collection period but it started with bravely collecting and distributing at the same time, which has never happened in the history of African Collecting Management Organisations.”
2018-02-08  Staff Report 2

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