History made as JCDC collects royalties from 2020 Festival songs

A sum of US$1,471 has been already collected by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), representing royalties from the historic 2020 Festival Song Competition, which, for the first time, saw the album available on major digital platforms and debuting on the highly respected iTunes Top 100 Reggae Albums Chart.

All 10 entries were available on iTunes, Apple Music and Amazon Music, while Spotify, Deezer and other platforms were able to stream. In total, the songs were available on 30 platforms globally, and were distributed by VPal Music.

Pleased as punch, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange pointed out that despite the actual figure being small, the significance is enormous. That data show that the songs were played in places such as Czech Republic, France, Germany, the US, Canada, the UK, and Trinidad and Tobago.

“This is the first time in history that any Festival song has brought in money to the JCDC. If we were able to have promoted ahead of time, especially in the diaspora, the songs would have gained much more traction,” Minister Grange explained.

The album, titled Jamaica Festival 2020 Song Competition, was released on July 3, 2020, and made its way into the Top 10 of the albums chart. Buju Banton’s song, I am a Jamaican – the winning entry – also broke into the iTunes Top 100 Reggae Singles chart. The move to make the Jamaica Festival Song entries available on music-downloading and streaming services was part of Minister Grange’s initiative to revitalise Jamaica Festival.

BRINGING BACK NATIONAL UNITY

Commenting on the development at the time, she said: “This will make the songs available worldwide and what it will do is expand the stage; the world is now our stage for the Jamaica Festival Song Competition. Jamaica Festival used to ignite the country and bring the nation together in such a beautiful way. We want to bring back that feeling of national unity and hope. We have made tremendous strides, but we have more to do.”

While hosting a think tank last Friday, Grange gave insight into the way forward for the Jamaica Festival Song Competition, especially as it relates to the business side of the music. Professionalism is clearly the mandate, and Grange had on display folders bearing the titles of the various contracts and agreements which the JCDC signed off on – among them JACAP, VPal, JAMMS, Digicel, songwriters, producers, talent and performance – in order to secure the rights for all parties involved in the competition.

“We are adhering to best practices which are in place across the world, and all the participants signed off on standard producer’s and publishing agreements. It is important for all songwriters to be members of collections agencies such as JACAP and also to have a publisher,” she said, opening the floor to Lydia Rose, CEO of the Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers (JACAP), who further expanded.

“Last year, JACAP and JCDC worked closely together, and all 10 songs were properly registered, with each having its unique ISRC code attached, and which makes it recognisable internationally,” Rose said.

Minister Grange mentioned a case that occurred last year where there were three songwriters for a particular song, “but we were able to register only one person because the other two refused to join JACAP”.

In explaining the ownership of the masters, Minister Grange said that the JCDC has an agreement for ownership in perpetuity, even though the producer will still receive royalties. “Buju, Toots and Freddie gave their songs to Jamaica as a gift, but they still cannot give up their total rights, and they will still receive royalties,” she said.

DELIBERATE MOVE

Evon Mullings, CEO of collecting society/licensing agency JAMMS (Jamaica Music Society), had an issue with the JCDC, “a long-standing member of value”, owning the masters in perpetuity. “In the spirit of best practices, the timeline should be more in the sphere of 10 to 15 years, after which the master should revert to the producer,” Mullings said.

But Minister Grange explained that this was a deliberate move to ensure a smooth process if the songs are needed for a compilation album, for example. “The commemorative Jamaica 50 album had some problem clearing the rights for some of the songs. When we are all gone, and the JCDC wants to put together 100 years of Festival songs, then because it is done this way, they don’t have to track down the estates in order to get permission to put out the titles,” Grange said

She added that the contract with the producer and the JCDC was a 50-50 deal with the Festival song. However, the minister also suggested that Mullings should work with her to make an amendment stating that if the producer wants to use the master after the competition, he can do so. That clause, it was agreed, would better satisfy best practices.

While stating that JAMMS had not yet received any royalties from the Festival songs, Mullings had an encouraging note, “Buju’s song has started to appear on the radar quite early, as BBC 1Xtra had playlisted it. We should be getting in some payments soon, and that will indicate just how well the songs did. JAMMS pays to the owner of the masters. In this case, there will be a 50-50 split for the producer and the JCDC,” Mullings said.

The JCDC is now accepting entries for the 2021 Festival competitions, and a platform has been developed to process entries via the JCDC’s website at www.jcdc.gov.jm.

For the song competition, the ministry is seeking a song “that will be on the lips of every man, woman and child”.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com