ARTISTS AND PRODUCERS GOT MORE $ FOR THEIR WORKS IN 2015, ACCORDING TO REPORT FROM JACAP!

Entertainers, music producers and other members in the creative arts took home more money as a result of their creative works last year.

The 3,479 members of the Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers (JACAP) received $39 million in royalty payment in 2015 from the association.

This is a noticeable improvement on 2014 when $12.7 million was paid out to members. At that time, the membership stood at 3,397.

JACAP also saw an improvement in the amount of royalties it collected from overseas sources.

In 2015, the association collected $14.1 million, an increase of $7.3 million, relative to 2014.

JACAP was established in March 1998 to oversee the collective administration of music copyright in Jamaica, and administer rights on behalf of songwriters, composers and publishers.

Meanwhile, persons who are members of the Jamaica Music Society (JAMMS) also benefited financially from their creative works. Total royalty payouts by JAMMS to its membership amounted to $15 million in 2015. This was a decrease by $8.5 million compared with 2014.

Receipts from overseas royalty payments by JAMMS was listed at $4.2 million, relative to $4.1 million in 2014.

JAMMS’ primary objectives are to administer rights on behalf of record companies and record producers, who own the copyright in recorded music, and to ensure that all music users engaged in ‘playing music publicly’ or broadcasting music, are duly authorized, by obtaining the relevant licence or permit.

Data on payouts by JACAP and JAMMS is contained in the Economic and Social Survey 2015, produced by the Planning Institute of Jamaica.