SA: SAMRO distributes record royalties to members

The news was revealed by SAMRO board chairperson Nicholas Maweni at its recently-held annual general meeting.

Maweni said in the last financial year SAMRO had distributed R410m ($28m) or 37.6% more in royalties, a significant jump from the previous year’s allocation of R297m. The change in SAMRO's fortunes was directly linked to “tightening of the belt” inside the organisation and growing revenue from traditional and emerging digital platforms.

“We have had to take some pain internally in the interest of our members and the organisation’s long-term sustainability," Maweni said. "Non-core activities have been curtailed while we continue to explore new revenue streams. We continued with our initiatives to bring cost-to-income ratio closer to international standards."

Additionally, SAMRO increased its funeral payout to its members by 25%, from R20 000 to R25 000. “The benefit covers the composer member, their spouse, and up to five children under 18 years," revealed Maweni. “The SAMRO Retirement Annuity Fund is for composer members only, in recognition of the fact that most musicians struggle to put a consistent amount away for their retirement because their earnings tend to be erratic," he added.

SAMRO is the only collection music organisation that has both a funeral benefit scheme and a retirement annuity fund for its members.

The chairperson also touched on the need for the organisation to re-examine its governance framework, noting that the poor performance of any organisation can often be traced back to a malfunctioning board, where corporate governance would have been allowed to slide. “When personal interests take precedence over the greater good of an organisation, the rot can infiltrate its entire culture. We have seen it countless times in South Africa, with state capture or simple personal greed tainting numerous public and private entities.”

Meanwhile, SAMRO has reduced its board from 12 non-executive directors to 10. The move was in line with the company's intention to have a higher number of Independent (non-executive) directors, who now comprise 30% of the board. The organisation also recently sold its subsidiary DALRO as part of its restructuring strategy.