What IS this!!! DJ License ? 4 comments What IS this!!! DJ License ? Ad by save on | Close This Ad Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. Martin Luther King, Jr. The issue of a Dj license has been a buzz now on social networks for the couple of days here in South Africa with many comparing it to the Etoll scandal to swindle money from Dj’s pockets , the truth of the matter is that this License that people are discussing has been around for more than a decade, hell it’s been a part of the teaching module within the Multi-Racial Records UMI Dj course” which is taught in our urban music institute since the instute’s inception eleven years ago , Its just that people have been plane ignorant to the fact that it exists much like majority of South Africans are ignorant to their traffic fines until they get caught. The MERE fact that it has become such a trending topic on the social networks after a few dj’s are caught with their pants down demonstrates much ignorance presented by the DJ community and a lack of understandings of how the industry is regulated so that all the players within this industry can benefit through a industry that can carry itself as a professional industry, and in this light I would like to present you to an extract taken from the “Business & Branding of Djing” module which forms part of the Dj course at the Multi-Racial Records UMI so that one can have an understanding of the working model behind this much debated Dj License and the royalties end up with the composer/Authors and rights holders of the music Staying legal as a DJ is a very, very important part of being a DJ. It is also very easy to fall into the trap of pirating other people’s music. Basically what you have to do is make sure that the original artists and composers of the music you play get the money and credit they deserve for there HARD work, talent and creativity. The people that made the music should get the money for any sale or performance of their music. Most countries in the world have music rights ORGANISATIONS that deals with the monitoring of licensing, publishing and payment of royalties to the musicians that have notified their music with the organisation, governments around the world have various laws in place to benefit musicians and creatives in enforcing people to pay towards rewarding musicians and creatives for the works that get performed through various platforms (radio,tv, live performance & PLAYED out performances) this copyright is known as the Copyright ACT, 1978 (Act No. 98 of 1978) When a musician finishes writting/recording a song or even before it has been recorded, they notify their rights organisation of the song in their name and those that are involved in it, so that any money coming from the songs revenue stream can be paid over to them. In South Africa one of the MUSICrights organisation is called Southern African Music Rights Organisation, Limited. Or simply just S.A.M.R.O. What S.A.M.R.O. does is administer and pay the money’s owed to the musicians that have notified songs with them. They receive the playlists from radio & tv stations performers to see what is being PLAYED and pay the money over to the respective people through these licences most these systems have all been automated which make calculating royalties for musicians more accurate, If you have any business that plays music inside like a retail store,restaurant,pub or club you have to pay an music license fee for the premises. This money is COLLECTED and paid to the artists that have their music PLAYING on radio in shopping centers & venues & clubs. Now for the questions of a DJ MOBILE or club Dj we contacted S.A.M.R.O to get some clarity on this and questioned one of their representatives: MR: Does the License apply to Mobile djs only or club & event Dj’s too who play at the licensed venues, wouldnt this be double licensing ? S.A.M.R.O: Even though the specific venues pay licenses for the performances on the premises , individuals or cover bands have to pay a license to perform other peoples music known as a public performance license this is why regardless if you play at a licensed venue. MR: What are the fees that performers and Dj’s have to pay? S.A.M.R.O: An annual fee of R926.22 incl VAT is payable with no other additional charges MR: How does this translate to someone who plays out as a hobby and doesn’t get paid ? S.A.M.R.O Regardless if you are a career dj or just do it for a hobby if you are playing in a public premises you are expected to have a license to perform to the public MR: How are these licenses being inforced ? S.A.M.R.O: We have inspectors that visit venues randomly in random areas checking that the venues has complied with licensing and that the performers & dj’s at the specific venue have complied, beside the inspectors we have educated the SAPS, and metropolitan police on the license compliance if found that venues or performers/dj are not compliant they face the reality of contravening the Copyright act which could lead to a hefty fine, imprisonment, confiscation of any MUSICAL equipment being used and venue shutdown. The Djs WILL also have to follow the procedure of submitting playlists quarterly so that we have reference and can capture it on our systems in order to calculate of who to distribute to. MR:How do Dj/performers register ? S.A.M.R.O: Simply visit the local S.A.M.R.O offices or the website fill in the MUSIC User Copyright A form and submit it with a copy of your ID, if you are nowhere near a S.A.M.R.O office you can post it through to the address supplied on our website. So to summarise from samros point: In order for you to stay on the right side of what SAMRO is putting forward is you must register yourself with S.A.M.R.O. as a DJ/ Performer/Music User where you WILL receive a S.A.M.R.O. registration number whereby people can see that you are operating legally and professionally. Once you are registered you will need to submit a paper every three months informing them on the tracks played and the songs you’ve been playing in your sets. This is a nice way of saying thank you to the artists that make the music that you PLAY. So to simplify all these legalities you have to first register as Music User and then pay your annual licensee fee of R926.22 incl VAT per year. Once this is done all the paper work is done, all you have to do after that is submit your Playlists every three months and you will stay on the right side of SAMRO requirements. As suggested by S.A.M.R.O , they can send their inspectors to visit venues randomly to inforce the copyright law at any time or utilise the SAPS or Metro Police during normal raids and if you playing music publicly without a license you will have to pay a hefty fine as well as have your musical equipment CONFISCATED on which ever format it is USB’s, CD’s even your laptop. If they find you are found in possession of pirated music they can fine you and this could add up to a substantial amount so try to all so have proof of purchase in your pouch such as receipts from downloads stores you purchased. So look at it in a moral way would you feel right of stealing something from a fellow person or even to a point of yourself as a DJ moving up to the next level of producing your own music and not receiving anything in a form of renumeration for your efforts, start by taking that first step into contributing to this industry don’t pirate music it kills the creativity & it kills the industry we so love. Myself being a producer can account on how rewarded one feels when it it comes to 2 things, receiving acknowledgement through the love received in the music I produce and the sound the SMS of your royalties being received from your rights ORGANISATION or signed label, how much of it that comes from these Dj licences begs to be investigated. So in the spirit of Ubuntu I am what I am because of who we all are’ so think about going about the right way in rewarding the musicians and producers that bring us joy through the colours of music that you the Dj paint on your canvas known as the dance floor. I will have a follow up article to this with a further counter opinions and more broader understandings from other industry professionals. written by: Sisco Umlambo for more details on this licensing issue visit S.A.M.R.O’s WEBSITE : samro.org.za/samro-music-users-south-africa HERE is a LITTLE video to give you a better understanding:
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 21:24:31 +0000