Income from music videos and sound recordings usage offers the local music industry a lucrative source of potential revenue. However, independent record companies and labels who are not members of RiSA have been denied access to their rightful share of income derived from broadcasts of their music video property.

To ensure that royalties due from the broadcast of video - and now audio - repertoire are paid to indies in accordance with usage, AIRCO has researched various local and international collective licensing regimes to determine an appropriate model which would grant rights to broadcasters and other public users to exploit our members' video property and rights to the public performance, diffusion and broadcasting of our members' sound recordings.

This latter right, which the industry refers to as "needletime", was repealed from the Act in 1965 and resulted in a significant loss of income to performing artists and record companies over the years. In June 2006, after a lengthy consultation process regarding the composition, rules and operations of collecting societies, the minister of Trade and Industry published regulations governing these issues. The door to significant public performance royalties for local record companies, labels and performers has been re-opened, appropriately at a time when traditional revenue streams continue to decline year on year internationally and when sales of local music are starting to show signs of flattening out.

Before this source of income can be tapped effectively however, industry stakeholders need to find consensus on a formula and format for needletime allocation and for transparent and accurate administration of usage income. The potential for conflict amongst stakeholders is exacerbated by the fact that needletime regulations are, to a large extent, flawed. AIRCO is of the opinion that solutions to these complex issues can best be addressed by embracing a consultative approach with all stake holders, including performers, and through the implementation of a unified negotiation strategy.

To this end, we have consulted with government agencies, our international affiliates WIN and IMPALA as well as with our counterparts in various territories around the world and have also engaged in exploratory discussions with local collection societies RAV, SAMPRO, SARRAL and SAMRO.

Some of the proposals put forward by local societies are neither practical nor ethically acceptable. AIRCO believes that the collection and distribution of revenues from performance rights for both audio and video repertoire should be outsourced to single collection societies in each case and that the recording industry should not be divided on this matter. These collective organisations should function independently and be governed and administered according to universally accepted fair and equitable standards, free from the direct control of any organisation or group of rights owners.

Adopting such an approach will, to a large extent, neutralize not only the weak regulations but also minimize the other challenges we will face in the establishment of the collection society. AIRCO believes that we will achieve success if all stakeholders are committed to finding positive solutions to what is essentially the greatest opportunity available to South African music today.