POSA commences distribution of artists' royalties

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This brings to an end the long wait for hundreds of South African featured artists and session musicians waiting to receive royalties for their performances.

POSA distributes the rights on behalf of recording artists who are represented by the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO). The first distribution for 2009 royalties, was done on 23 December 2014. Subsequent distributions, for the years between 2010 and 2012, were done in January and February 2015.

This followed the agreement reached in September 2014 between POSA and the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMPRA) on the sharing of Needletime rights royalties between record companies and performers featured in the tracks that were used by music users.

Percentages achieved

SAMRO executive general manager: Rights Holder Services, Pfanani Lishiva, says that featured artists and session musicians featured in the tracks that earned royalties have received pay-outs after POSA successfully processed royalties. The following are the percentages, per distribution, that have been achieved (where royalties were successfully allocated to deserving performers per track):

• 2009 (1) - 91.01%;
  
• 2009 (2) - 78.90%;
  
• 2010 - 87.73%;
  
• 2011 - 83.35%; and
  
• 2012 - 84.90%.

The average of processed royalties is 85.17%.

He added that the amounts that have not yet been processed and distributed are those belonging to tracks that have not been registered with POSA. POSA has been tracing and contacting the relevant featured artists requesting them to register their tracks, and royalties are processed as soon as tracks are registered and payment is also effected immediately.

"It is also important to state that the SAMRO board of directors and the POSA board of trustees took a decision that, for these distributions, POSA would not charge any administration fee. This means that nothing has been deducted from the performers' royalties," said Lishiva.