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18 years of royalties due to Guyanese recording artistes

Jan 05, 2012 Letters

Dear Editor,
Airplay royalty payments to Guyanese recording artistes and songwriters, registered with the PRS now ……..and other copyright bodies, was an annual fixture in Guyana until 1992.
Radio stations are obligated to pay copyright agencies annual sums of money based on a log of songs played and calculated by duration of the songs when multiplied by a prescribed rate per minute.  Radio stations in many countries are supported by funds from the Revenue Collection Agency which issues licences to commercial entities, such as hotels, bars, restaurants, taxis, etc., which utilize music.
I joined the PRS in 1980 and consistently received annual payments up to 1992.  Payment in 1992 was for songs aired in 1991. Radio management, when asked about the stoppage, first indicated that the funds were being held in escrow then admitted later that the station was cash strapped.
As musicians we need our money. We are being robbed.  We should be paid retroactively with significant interest then further compensated for pain and suffering.  Several of our top colleagues have died; their portions should go to their respective estates.
But we musicians are not the only ones being robbed.  Music is big business. Yet the administration has demonstrated shortsightedness by robbing the nation and our youths of income, economic opportunities and national heroes by paying out an average of $10,000,000 to each foreign act invited to Guyana to perform and to strengthen their fan base here, while our struggling artistes and our international music stars are unknown to our youths, who are thereby starved of important inspiration and role models, and have adopted copycat outlooks and foreign accents.
Since in 2011 and earlier, our administration favoured Jamaica. Let’s see what the Jamaica administration is doing right music-wise. 1. There are many radio stations. 2. Musicians get a lot of airplay since Jamaica, like most countries except Guyana, has passed laws that airplay for locals must be between 65-75%.  From a commonsense standpoint; the more foreign music you air the more royalties you will owe to foreign artistes.
Royalty is calculated at US$0.075 cents per minute. 3. Royalties are remitted promptly. 4. Tourism is assured of its natural support base: music. 5. Over US$500M is earned from music annually and untold millions more saved as the Island’s music ambassadors keep their country’s tourism products on the front burner worldwide and 6. Their support for their musicians ensures a new crop of musicians being groomed daily and scouts paying regular visits to the Island to source new talent for their respective international labels.
Having been robbed of a sense of nationhood, too many of our administrators and DJs are so misguided that at declared national events such as Mash and National exhibitions to promote local produce, you will find foreign music leading the way. This foolishness has only been going on in Guyana.
Please end this folly.   Pay the local artistes and sort out this sorry affair now. Some of the persons who can assist in this regard include Messrs Terry Holder and Fazil Azeez, (now a magistrate), Dr. Paloma Mohamed, and  Anande Trotman,  who have all played important roles in the distribution of royalties and Christopher Ram whom a group of us  approached to represent our interest.
Lee Houston

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