Samro sitting on over R30 million in unpaid royalties

Music organisation Samro is calling on artists to resubmit their banking details to receive their share of royalties.

According to the organisation, they currently sitting with more than R30 million in pending royalties and have identified about 6 500 members who need to resubmit their banking details to receive payment.

Speaking to Daily Sun, the organisation CEO Mark Rosin said they have the money but can’t pay it over as a result of receiving incorrect or outdated banking details from members.

“When payment is made, it bounces back and future payments will subsequently be stopped until the member details are corrected or updated,” he said.

He said the members in question have been asked through a direct communication from Samro to update their banking details, and the organisation has also published on its website and social media platforms a list of members whose banking details are incorrect.

“In total, there are about 6 500 members who have been asked to resubmit their bank account details. We would like to emphasise that only the members who appear on the list, which has been published on Samro’s website, need to check their banking details and resubmit accurate details,” he said.

Rosin said the royalty amounts due to members from the R30 million will differ from member to member, depending on the usage of their creations. These royalty payments range from as little as R100 to R250 000.

Samro administers the copyright and royalties of its members, primarily music composers, authors and publishers.

Members assign the rights of their musical works to Samro to administer.

The organisation, in turn, uses the assignments to license individuals and businesses that use music for business or commercial purposes.

This includes shopping centres, nightclubs, television and radio broadcasters.

Mark also explained that Samro is making this public appeal for affected members to come forward as part of its efforts to be a fair and transparent organisation.

“Samro always strives to protect the rights of its members and ensure they are compensated fairly for their work. We are here to ensure artists can earn a decent living and receive the royalties that are rightfully due to them,” he said.

“In addition, this is part of Samro’s ‘Notes for Notes’ campaign that has been designed to put more funds in the pockets of Samro members.”

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