SAMRO 60
by Sheldon Rocha Leal
Celebrating South Africaness, South Africans and successful domestic brands is essential in stimulating consumer and market sentiment, growth and instilling faith in our population, that we are valuable global contributors. As music is my primary area of focus and passion, this article will highlight one of Africa’s oldest music brands, SAMRO (Southern African Music Rights Organisation), a collective music organisation (CMO) that turns 60 in December 2021. We often underestimate the power of what our creatives have achieved, but the truth is that we as a creative force have not only made music that South Africans enjoy and consume, we have altered international music trends. After Latin America and Asia, Africa is the fastest growing recorded music region in the world, growing at a rate of 8.4% per annum. Additionally, South Africa and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) account for 86% of the region’s music revenue generation.
In a study conducted by Medimops it was revealed that South Africa ranks 12th on a list of countries from which the most streamed artists globally derive, making the country one of the most influential music markets in the world. Furthermore, South Africa was ranked the biggest music market in Africa in a MIDEM article published earlier this year. This was validated when one of the world’s biggest independent music rights management companies,
Music Holdings, acquired Sheer Music Publishing early in 2020 for an undisclosed amount. A company founded by one of South Africa’s greatest music executives and a current member of the SAMRO board, .
The South African music industry is one of the most formalised and regulated in Africa. The rights of creators are currently protected by the Copyright Act, No98 of 1978, but our history with regards to the protection of intellectual property dates back to Copyright Act of 1911. According to Section 1 (6) (a-g) of the 1978 Act, certain rights are imbued on music creators the second they produce a new piece of music, these include the rights to: reproduce the work; perform the work publicly; broadcast the work; adapt the work; publish the work; transmit the work in a diffusion service. Furthemore, the recording industry is regulated by RISA (Recording Industry of South Africa), formerly known as ASAMI (Association of the South African Music Industry) established in the 1970s. There are, additionally, a plethora of societies, associations and organisations to which music creators and performers can belong and from which they can derive an income. The systems are not always efficient, but I do not think there is any organisation in the world that has flawless systems.
The focus of this article, however, is SAMRO, a CMO which represents the rights of songwriters (both local and international) in the South African music space. CMOs are non-governmental institutions, usually established by copyright law, which license copyright on behalf of songwriters. Essentially, rights owners assign their copyright to a CMO enabling them to issue licenses and collect royalties on their behalf. These CMOs do this by issuing licenses to music users, track the activity of registered works and based on the frequency of use pay creators royalties. In SAMRO’s instance they are concerned with collecting Public Performance Royalties. This means every time a song is played in a restaurant, club, radio, television, a fun-fair, clothing store or live venue, the songwriter is paid for the use of their intellectual property. SAMRO generates money by issuing blanket licenses to the latter mentioned venues, tracking the use of registered songs and paying members royalties based on its usage.
SAMRO’s role has, however, evolved exponentially since its establishment in December 1961 by Dr Gideon Daniel Roos and his sons. His father was a famous South African Springbok rugby captain, after whom the prestigious Stellenbosch government school was named, Paul Roos Gymnasium. He was born on the 28th of October 1909, raised in Stellenbosch and completed his first two degrees at the University of Stellenbosch (BA and an LLB), in the Western Cape. On completion of his degrees he was awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship in 1934 and went on to conclude a BLitt at
in 1936. He then transferred to the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands, where he completed a DPhil in International Law.Whilst studying in Holland he received a telegram from the newly formed SABC (South African Broadcast Corporation) requesting he set up and run the Afrikaans broadcast service for the institution. He eventually went on to become a well known broadcaster, actor and leader at the SABC, assuming the role of Director-General of the corporation in 1948. He held the position until 1961, when his relationship with the ruling party, the National Party (NP), irretrievably broke down, as he refused to allow the SABC to be used as a tool for the dissemination of propaganda by the apartheid government. After approximately 25 years with the corporation he was replaced by a “Broederbond” member, who would assure the successful implementation of the NP’s wishes. In his farewell speech he articulated that he had expected to retire at the SABC, but alas it was not meant to be. What he went on to achieve, at a time when many may have assumed he would slow down (aged 52), overshadowed what he achieved at the SABC and would go on to change the lives of thousands of creatives over various decades.
With his knowledge of international and domestic law and a passion for preserving and protecting the rights of local creators, he decided to establish Africa’s first CMS, SAMRO in December 1961. Operations, however, only commenced early in 1962. He was aided in his endeavour by his two sons (Paul and Gideon Jnr), both lawyers, legendary recording industry executive Eric Gallo, of Gallo Records and UK’s Performing Rights Society who loaned him R2,000 in seed capital. They initially represented the rights 40 local composers and 13 publishers.
SAMRO was originally launched as the South African Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers (SAFCA), but a few months later was renamed South African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO). Eight years later, through a resolution adopted at a special annual general meeting, the name was changed for the last time to the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO). The change was promulgated to reflect the organisation’s commitment to effect change not only for South African music creators but for all music creators in the region. Strike Vilakazi, the composer of the protest anthem “Meadowlands” (1956), was one SAMRO’s initial members at a time when black and white people did not have equal rights in the country. Based on the success of SAMRO, DALRO (Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation) was established in 1968 to handle copyright pertaining to dramatic works.
SAMRO, for all intents and purposes, was a Roos family business. Paul was at one point the CEO and Gideon jnr, was an Executive-Director. The family were integrally involved in the daily functioning of SAMRO for 36 years, when it was decided in 1997, that they would minimize their involvement, at which point all family members resigned from their positions. Dr Roos served in the position of Chairman of SAMRO and DALRO for more than 30 years and was associated with both organisations until shortly before his passing in 1999.
Knowing that his affiliation with various international bodies would give SAMRO a strategic advantage, Dr Roos sought alliances with various global copyright associations and organisations. These included: Association Littéraire et Artistique Internationale (ALAI, established in France, 1848); Internationalen Gesellschaft Für Urheberrecht (INTERGU, International Copyright Society established in Germany, 1954); International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC, established in France, 1926) and The South African Association for the Protection of Industrial Property. This gave SAMRO worldwide credibility, made it one of the most respectable collection societies in the world and the largest in Africa.
In 1963 another organisation was established which dealt with a composer’s right to reproduction, enshrined in the Copyright Act. SARRAL (South African Recording Rights Association Limited) administered mechanical rights exclusively in the country for over 30 years, issuing mechanical licenses and collecting the associated royalties. In 1998 NORM (National Organisation of Reproduction Rights in Music) was established to collect mechanical royalties for its members, consisting of major and big independent publishers. This reduced some of the control over the administration of mechanical rights SARRAL previously held. In 2006 SAMRO absorbed some of SARRAL’s duties and moved into the mechanical royalty collection space. SARRAL was eventually liquidated in 2010 by a court order, after it was found that funds had been misappropriated by certain board members.
In 2012 it was decided after lengthy discussions between SAMRO and NORM that they would both move out of the mechanical license collection space to facilitate the establishment of a new organisation called CAPASSO. The discussions dated back to 2009 and the decision was made based on recommendations from the Copyright Review Commission set up by the Department of Trade and Industry. The Composers, Authors and Publishers Association (CAPASSO) today deals with the collection of mechanical rights and administers digital rights for SAMRO.
In 2007 SAMRO bought a property in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, with the intention of facilitating the consolidation of all music collection in one building, to be known as SAMRO House. The building today houses the offices of SAMRO, CAPASSO, MPASA (Music Publishers’ Association of South Africa), SAMRO Foundation, SAMRO Music Archive and SAMPRA (South African Music Performance Rights Association, established in 2000). It was mooted that RISA would follow suit, but to this day the move has not taken place.
From the outset SAMRO was integrally involved in the upliftment of local musicians, the preservation of indigenous musical traditions and music education. Through the SAMRO Endowment of the National Arts (SENA), founded in 1962, various projects were undertaken to achieve the latter mentioned objectives. In 2011 SENA was renamed the SAMRO Foundation, which up to that point had functioned as a sub-committee of the main SAMRO board. This organisational shift was implemented and overseen by another legend in the South African music business, André Le Roux. The foundation is involved in various projects, programmes and initiatives that help stimulate the South African music industry.
Between 1962–2019 SENA/SAMRO Foundation invested over R50million in various music education programmes. The foundation has an annual overseas scholarship programme which pays R160,000 for two individuals to pursue postgraduate music studies at an institution outside of South Africa. Since 1962 over 60 of these scholarships have been awarded. Between 1981 and 2014 over 1,552 bursaries were conferred on deserving students studying music at local institutions of higher learning at a value of R1million per annum. The SAMRO Foundation also funds about 40 NGO music schools and a plethora of music education programmes/projects. Additionally, the foundation, through Concerts SA, has spent an inordinate amount of time (and money) mapping the SA music industry (live venues, institutions of music tuition, institutions of higher learning, clubs, theaters etc).
Another SAMRO Foundation initiative established in 2018 is the SAMRO Scores Music Portal, an extension of the SAMRO Music Archives, established in the 1980s. That being said SAMRO has been collecting scores and manuscripts since 1962, as part of their music copyright registration process. The portal was created to promote and encourage the performance of South African music around the world. The archive is the largest resource of South African music in the world and curates a comprehensive collection of South Africa’s musical heritage. SAMRO has actively been collecting scores since 1962 and to date have collected over 64,500 scores spanning various genres. Moreover they have commissioned the composition of over 400 works since 1962. The collection does not only comprise scores, it also consists of research journals, pictures and audio-visual content.
In 2013 SAMRO became a non-profit organisation and today have over 19,000 voting members and 100,000 prospect members, a far cry from their initial cohort of 40. Members today have access to a retirement annuity and a funeral benefit scheme. The organisation has reciprocal agreements with 225 CMOs in 150 countries. SAMRO, therefore, collects royalties for these societies’ composers in South Africa and the related societies reciprocate for South African composers in their related territories. In 2021 SAMRO reported that they had collected just under half a billion rand and distributed over R330million to its members. Although this is a drop from the previous year, they distributed more money to their members than in 2020. SAMRO has held onto some of their original affiliations with organisations such as CISAC, but have expanded their partnerships. Today they have affiliations with institutions such as WOMEX (World Music Expo), World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), BIEM and MIDEM, entrenching their credibility on the world music market.
SAMRO is led by a board of directors that consist of music stakeholders from the publishing world, recording industry, business world and performing spaces, aimed at adequately representing all spheres of the South African music industry. Since it’s inception in 1961 9 people have served in the role of SAMRO CEO: Gideon Roos, Paul Roos (1962–1997); Rob Hooijer (1997–2006); Nicholas Motsatse (2006–2013); Sipho Dlamini (2013–2016); Rev. Abe Sibiya (acting) (2016–2017); Nothando Migogo (2017–2019); Ditebogo Modiba (acting) (2019–2020). In 2020 a man was made CEO of SAMRO that shares a similar pedigree to that of the organisation’s founder, Dr Roos, a lawyer that has built up a phenomenal reputation within the South African music industry, Mark Rosin. His mandate was to turn the organisation around after a few years of controversy and disruptions at the CMO.
In its 60 year history the organisation has gone from a fledgling South African institution with the ambitious aim of protecting the rights of local music creators and preserving our musical heritage to an international success. Not only have they succeeded in remunerating their members, they have also forged relationships with important international stakeholders and invested heavily in music education and upliftment in the country. With Mark Rosin at the helm, it is hoped that he will restore the organisation to its former glory, bringing the organisation into the 4th industrial revolution and the world’s new music dispensation. At the end of the day, we as content creators all benefit from a strong collection society such as SAMRO and we hope that it continues to grow from strength to strength, surviving to experience another 60 years.
