Good news! Local musicians to earn royalties from TikTok, Facebook, and Netflix
SAMRO has announced it has concluded a licening deal with
the major tech companies and has started collecting royalties on behalf of
local musicians.
For the longest time, local musicians were not getting paid the royalties they deserved for content shared on TikTok, Facebook, and Netflix. However, the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) has announced that it has started collecting royalties on behalf of its members after concluding licensing agreements with the popular digital platforms.
The deal follows an existing arrangement with the search engine Google and is a massive step in the right direction for local musicians.
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SAMRO chairperson Nicholas Maweni said: “Thanks to the
conclusion of these binding agreements, Samro will be able to collect royalties
on behalf of members for all copyright-protected content that features on these
platforms with immediate effect.”
He adds that prior to the deal, platforms like Facebook prohibited the use of copyright-protected content on their networks, which caused major issues for local artists wanting to make a living through their music on the platform.
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“This deal is going to enrich these platforms through the use of high-quality content produced by our members while at the same time broadening the scope and usage of member content,” Maweni adds. “The technological evolution we are experiencing is a welcome development as it creates new avenues through which the public can experience creative works while at the same opening up new opportunities for our members.”
Musicians not registered with SAMRO are encouraged to do so in order to get paid the royalties that they deserve.
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