From Financial Mail

AFROPOP artist Thembeka Mavuso achieved fame when she became the overall winner of a music competition in 1998. She has been in the music industry for over 15 years, and has even backed Sibongile Khumalo, yet she is still not certain how to ensure she makes money each time her music is played.

“I do not know much about royalties, but I remember the subject being mentioned while I was part of the Joyous Celebration gospel group,” she says.

She puts the blame on the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (Samro), which she says is “not doing enough to assist us artists by educating us about royalties and what benefits there are for us beyond performing.”

She claims never to have received a royalty payment.

But jazz master Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse says: “Artists are generally lazy people. [They] do not know the benefits of researching the industry they want to go into, and they never read the small print.”

Royalty payments — a usage-based payment from one party to a second, the one who has created the commodity used — are a valuable source of ongoing income, and some creative people live off them.

Despite this, many composers do not see the potential of this “quieter” revenue stream and focus mostly on income from live performances and other, more visible, sources.

Mabuse, a nonexecutive member of the Samro board, says the organisation has always associated itself with the recording labels, and that these should be educating signed artists about how they can make money off royalties.

He says some recording labels are aware of this tendency towards artistic ignorance and its concomitant vulnerability. “The rights should always belong to the [artist] and not the recording label,” he says.

“Samro works with reputable people and is a genuine business that looks out for composers’ interests,” he says.

A new grouping, the Composers, Authors & Publishers Association (Capasso), has emerged at a time when matters in the SA music sector are being complicated by something that is causing ructions across the global music industry — digital downloading.

Capasso CEO Nothando Migogo says the group’s role is to issue licences to users of music such as broadcasters and digital music providers so that they pay licence fees for any reproductions of musical works they make. Capasso collects the licence fees from the users and then distributes them to its members.

“Collecting societies, like Samro, Capasso and Sampra (the SA Music Performance Rights Association) need to engage with artists by increasing their membership and constantly communicating,” says Mabuse.

“Artists record a hit song, get paid accordingly, but then get careless with their money.”

Mafikizolo, an Afrosoul group, and kwaito singer Stoan Seate say they have no complaints regarding Samro royalties. Both say they found it easy to establish for themselves the rules about royalties,though they say “connections” already in the industry helped set them on the right path. However, they agree that licensing agencies do not do enough to educate artists about their rights.

Seate, who has been with Kalawa Jazmee Records for 19 years, agrees with Mabuse that artists need to do their own research about the industry they are getting into, as they would do with any other career.

Migogo says residents of African countries other than SA can mandate Capasso to collect royalties on their behalf in the territories where Capasso licenses or has co-operative agreements with other mechanical rights licensing organisations.

Botswana’s DJ Di David says Samro distinguishes between three types of music rights: performance rights, mechanical rights and needletime rights.

Mechanical rights are royalties earned by DJs, composers, lyricists, and music publishers when their works are copied onto CD, DVD, tape, video, MP3, computer hard drives or cellphone ringtones.

Needletime rights are earned by recording artist such as musicians, singers, backing vocalists and studio producers.

David agrees that not enough is being done to educate artists about royalties. He has other businesses outside the music industry that sustain him.

Gospel producer Sizwe Zako, owner of Zako music, says he has never had any bad experiences with royalties.

“Payments come with statements that are Bible-sized, and instead of taking time to go through the statement, most artists are just glad there is money to be received and don’t bother to double check,” he says.

Zako admits he used to double check though he found few errors. When these were pointed out, Samro would apologise and fix them.

Gallo Record Company GM Neil Greenberg explains that when artists are signed with the company, they are offered a deal. Gallo pays for the recording, the studio time, marketing and distribution. CDs are sold at a set price, and the sales are reported so that royalties can be returned to the artist.

“The figure and percentage of the royalties paid is negotiated and included in the contract,” says Greenberg. The contract is then signed and loaded onto an audited copyright system.

“All this is explained in detail. The information on the sales, the percentage and how many units are sold and the royalties paid is kept for referral purposes and for audit,” he says.

On Wednesday evening, 1 October, Sipho Mabuse will perform at The Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City in Johannesburg, presenting a special single performance with some of the biggest names in music.

The iconic PJ Powers and the legendary Pops Mohamed, will share the night with Sipho who has entitled the show Timelessness .

The show will pay take fans on an extraordinary and unique musical journey which will pay tribute to some of the greatest figures in music.

Timelessness will comprise two sets, the first opening with the singer/songwriter,/producer and multi-instrumentalist’s debut composition.

Sipho will perform alongside his friends and two surviving members of his first band Harari. Om Alec Khaoli and Condry Ziqubu) will join him on stage to revive “Party Soul Fire”, one of the group’s earliest hit singles.

Besides great songs, The Lyric Theatre will witness rich and rewarding musical friendships being reaffirmed in live performance. The second half of this once-off trip down memory lane will open with“ Thabu Bosiu”, another of Mabuse’s standout classics. There will also be surprise performances that will only be revealed once the Sipho and his band are in full flight on the night.

The evening’s performances will be punctuated by classic renditions of songs that have inspired Sipho from The Beatles “Norwegian Wood” through to Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band’s“We’ve Got Tonight”. Sipho’s timeless renditions of unlikely favourites are sure to ignite the night whilst the staging and the lighting promises to wow the audience almost as much as Sipho and friends will enchant. A video crew will be on hand to capture the evening for posterity.

It has been 30 years since “Burnout” blew up the charts and changed local pop music forever –and 50 years since Sipho began his journey in song.

On 1 October patrons inside The Lyric Theatre will be assured of a show filled with great friends, exceptional music and remarkable stories.

Head out to Gold Reef City, and join us in celebrating these multiple anniversaries with Sipho’s friends, and peers. Expect tributes, tears and Timelessness aplenty as Sipho Mabuse unpacks, retells and delights the night with songs and stories that remain as fresh and inspiring as the man himself.

Momentous it promises to be – magic and memorable for all fortunate enough to be present.

Tickets are available from Computicket.co.za or call: 0861 915 8000

For more information contact:
Triple M Entertainment
Martin Myers
E-mail: martin@triplementertainment.co.za
Mobile: +27 083 448 4475

The Hotband

The month of August is dedicated to all women in South Africa.  In celebration of Woman’s Month, Cape Town Collaborative have put together a special track  titled “I Am Woman”.

It available as a free download, on their Reverbnation Page – http://www.reverbnation.com/epiphanybandsa

Valentino van der Schyff and Tina Gordon are a male and female duo called Epiphany, who have put together a project called  The Cape Town Collaborative.

Epiphany have always wanted to write a song in honour of women and decided to get in touch with artists they met at Music Exchange this year.

The artists who feature in this track are:  Valentino van der Schyff, Tina Gordon, Ronald Jones, Angelo ‘Ello’ Bagley, Clint Brink, Siphokazi Jonas and Antholeen Petersen .

Tina recalls writing the song: “I wanted to write a song about women I admire and women others look up to.

It needed to be a powerful showing and an ode to all women of strength.  We attended an open mic event at Liquid Lime Studios hosted by PANSA, after receiving an invitation from Natalia Da Rocha.   It was at that moment we realised that we just had to complete the dedication to women in a composition we had in mind for so long.

Valentino explains:  “After attending Music Exchange in March 2014, I was taken aback by the valuable information gained and realised how much we still need to do in the South African music business.  Music Exchange has taught me so much and I’ve shared all of the knowledge gained with my partner in crime – Tina!  We got right into it.  Kept recording originals, kept writing songs, kept doing every single gig we possibly could.  After Music Exchange, my mind set has shifted and we have never looked back since.”

Future Projects – Epiphany are already onto their next track titled “My Favourite” which will definitely be released before the end of September, if not sooner!  For now, it is all about women and their Cape Town Collaborative tribute!

For more information contact:

Valentino van der Schyff – 071 902 5535  or  Martin Myers -083 448 4475
@EpiphanyBandSA

Tim Renner (our key note speaker in 2014) is the newly elected
Kulturstaatssekretär of Berlin and has indicated that he too would like to
work more closely with the Music Exchange programme. The inclusion of
Germany’s World Economic Forum awarded Global Leader for Tomorrow recipient
Tim Renner, delivered global insights and cement its reputation as the
critically important, game-changing event that it’s clearly become. Tim
Renner, who is also Managing Director of Motor Music has developed artists
such as Rammstein, Portishead and 2Pac. Rammstein album “Sehnsucht” sold
more than 500.000 copies in Germany. In the US it sold more than 1 Million
copies which made the album to the most famous German speaking album of all
time.

Or to stay with the words Tim Renner : “Music Exchange has surprised me. I
would have expected neither such a thirst for knowledge still such a
concentrated audience. In this regard, the event kicks everything I ‘ve seen
on European and American conventions and shows in view of my new job, how
important and welcome cultural exchange . ”

Roswitha Eming

The opening party was far bigger and more glamorous than we’d been led to believe.  A stage, velvet tables and leather couches were inhabited by a range of VIPs – older bluebloods, suave artists, young hopefuls – a thronging mass of amazing artists, legends from all corners of the music industry, and all of them potential collaborators.
On stage the performers worked the crowd with a range of music as diverse as the artists.  They included singer songwriter Roeshdien Jaz, spoken word poet Siphokazi Jonas, singer songwriter Brendan Adams, jazz band Chasing Summers with vocalists Claire Enslin and Andrei Matthew Damane, and opera singer Makudupanyane Senaoana.

The first day brought an initial struggle with parking including a long walk to avoid paying around R 88. This needs to be addressed next year. However, being able to see Sipho Hotstix Mabuse, Martin Myers, Trevor Jones, Tim Renner, Miles Keylock, Jimmy Nevis, and so many more in one room was not an opportunity to be missed.
Perhaps most exciting for Capetonians was the presence of New York hip hop star Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def), who took to the stage to give an honest and inspiring speech about his career, discussing his early influences, his struggles with life in 1980’s New York City and some of the hurdles he has overcome to be the successful artist he is today. He revealed a glowing love for Cape Town, claiming the “good vibes” had made an immense impression on him, to the degree that he has now moved here.  He told the audience, “Be aware that you are in a special place at a very special and unique time in history.”

German music producer Tim Renner then held everyone’s attention with a talk detailing the current trends in the global music market, his work managing German super-group Rammstein, and his views on how Africa will develop into a culture powerhouse in the future. He also touched on the need to develop infrastructure and encourage governmental participation to grow the local industry.
Over the rest of the first day various panel discussions focused on topics from the highs and lows of an international music career, to music in Africa and the impact of film in the South African economy. The film discussions brought trade and investment promotion agency WESGRO to our attention, with its plans to boost international investment in South African-produced films. With the input of orchestral film score composer Trevor Jones, the discussion gave great insight into music’s as yet untapped potential for the SA film industry, and highlighted the needs for skill development.

One of the key discussions of the Music Exchange was The Great Needle Time Debacle, which  involves a huge sum of money due for composer royalties, which is currently frozen due to a dispute between SAMPRA and SAMRO and the DTI. Law suits and negotiations have been deadlocked since 2006.  Government officials were involved in the on-stage discussion which concluded that certain musicians and lawyers would lobby parliament to resolve this issue.

Many attendees responded to the need for South African musicians to become activists for their rights, and rallied to the call for a Musicians Union.  In the same vein, a wave of positivity met the launch of CAPASSO – the Composers and Publishers Association for Southern Africa – a landmark venture in mechanical rights in South Africa.

One of the most keenly attended events on Saturday was a session on digital development and social media.  Gillian Ezra (COO of South Africa’s first music streaming service, Simfy Africa) gave good evidence that digital music streaming is the future, while digital mareting trend guru David Duarte of Treeshake plied the audience with facts, figures and informed opinions. Miles Keylock, editor of Rolling Stone Magazine SA brought us back down to earth with the very necessary reminder that good publicity starts with having good music.

Along with wise words from Tsholo Moraba and Bradley Shaw, David Potgieter gave advice and then introduced a new app, Kartwheel, which groups and streams a person’s favourite music pages (band pages on Facebook, artists on Twitter etc) in a cohesive union tailored to their personal preferences. Clever stuff.

Disappointingly the final networking session didn’t materialise, presumably because the programme had run so late. For many attendees this formal networking opportunity had been anticipated as a highlight, and many left frustrated.

Music Exchange was a fantastic opportunity for anyone involved – or even just interested – in the music, film and entertainment industries.  Apart from a few organisational flaws, this was an event brimming with inspiration. It will be interesting to see how that inspiration manifests itself over the next few months.

Marie-Claire de Villiers and Gareth Harvey

Music Exchange ran at the Cape Town City Hall on 8 & 9 March 2014.

Cape Town Music Exchange 2014

Friday, the 7th of March saw the start of the fourth Cape Town Music Exchange. Hosted and attended by some of the big names in the South African Music Industry, it was the place to be if you are serious about keeping up to date with the business of music, film and entertainment, whether you are anyone from an artiste or a producer to a composer or record label owner.

Mos Def

After registration and coffee in the foyer, where we were handed a copy of One City Music, a relatively new free music publication driven by the guys from Rolling Stone which contained the programme for the Exchange, the hall doors were opened. Entertainers and their industry counterparts filtered into the hall. All attending were greeted by rows of chairs facing a stage which boasted a far more professional look than the previous years.

Martin Myers, the man in charge did a quick introduction, opening the conference with a few words and introductions before the first Key-note speaker, Yasiin Bey, also known as the legendary hip hop artiste and actor Mos Def, gave a stirring and informative speech on where he’d come from and how he’d gotten to where he was.

The second key-note speaker was none other than Tim Renner, the man who has worked alongside Ramstein for 13 years! Tim took to the stand, grabbed my attention and held it with his extraordinary, fascinating stories and facts about his work in the music industry and how it differed around the world. Brain melted a little at the words of this marvel of a gentleman.

Tim Renner

The conference commenced from there onwards, revolving loosely around topics such as the latest economic trends and news subjects in the entertainment industry. Some more interesting than others and some where one couldn’t lean far enough out of your chair from curiosity which was almost guaranteed to be satisfied!

There were panel discussions on how to make an international career in music, breaking it out in Africa, the impact of film on the SA economy as well as the ins and outs of working with publishers.

These discussions were hosted by some big exciting identities such as Dr. Trevor Jones, Sipho Hotstix Mabuse, Benjy Mudie (Universal), Peter Lacey (Musketeer), Andre Le Roux (SAMRO) and Steve Harris (Universal).

The highlight for me was the presentation done by Miles Keylock and Anton Marshall from Rolling Stone Magazine on Content Without Context. Their entertaining and confident, yet highly informative attitudes kept everyone’s attention and gave real insight into what the correct approaches to the business and media sides of music is.

There were a few differences that I picked up between this year’s Exchange and last year’s:

·         The overall image was bigger and more professional

·         The overall focus seemed to be more on SA pop acts rather than bands (as was the case last year)

·         The attitude towards record labels and independence had turned 360° with everyone routing for the independent method of working

·         The people from government were there

·         The people from radio were there

Rob Vember

Well done Cape Town Music exchange for those last two points!

Other highlights included the Music Law expert, Nick Matzukis’ presentation on the updated legislation, Rob Vember and Jon Savage from 5FM giving a breakdown of the 5fm Mash-lab and a Panel Discussion on Social Media and online marketing.

All in all it was an educational experience which you could only come by at the Cape Town Music Exchange!