Music users awarded
IN 1999 the Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (JACAP) had a total of 30 members with a cumulative revenue of $7,802,034 and a cumulative royalty distribution of $6,065,554 which was an improvement from the figures initially brought in by the Performing Rights Society (PRS) in the early 1990s. In 2019, JACAP’s membership soared to roughly 3886 members with a cumulative revenue of $1,259,841,546 and a cumulative royalty distribution of $792,194,873. As time progressed, JACAP has one of the highest levels of compliance from music users. These impressive numbers kept growing with the efforts of the team to educate and enforce Copyright Laws in Jamaica. As these numbers increased, JACAP saw it necessary to award the Top Licensees in the areas of ‘Broadcasting’, ‘Concerts’, ‘Festivals’, ‘Hotels’ and ‘General’.
At the recent staging of JACAP’s 21-year Anniversary Award Celebration Banquet at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston, super group RJRGleaner Communications Group was awarded in the field of broadcasting, along with ‘Frenchmen Parties’ in the concert category, ‘Reggae Sumfest/ Downsound Entertainment’ in the festival category, ‘Sandals International Resorts’ in the hotel category and ‘The Palace Amusement Company (1921) Limited’ in the general category. “We wanted to ensure our licensees know we value their compliance. We view all our licensees not just as our partners, but they are our assets for the future and we would not have had the success if it were not for their compliance. These licensees were awarded not only for being compliant but for the years of compliance.” While it wasn’t an easy task, JACAP was adamant to increase the level of compliance while maintaining good relationships with music users. This task was not always an easy one, as legal action had to be taken on a few organizations for withholding outstanding royalty payments over the years. As Buju’s song state ‘It’s not an easy road’, but with our open-door policy we work with our stakeholders through negotiations to arrive at a win-win position.
JACAP is taking the necessary steps to educate and award music users. Music users, in this case, are those who use music for any commercial, promotional or entertainment event such as promoters, venue operators, event planners, and even business owners who play music in their establishments.