15/11/2024
Ever wondered how SAMRO calculates royalties? Here's a concise breakdown:
Royalty Distribution Process:
1. Licensing: SAMRO licenses businesses and broadcasters to use music publicly.
2. Collection: These entities pay license fees to SAMRO.
3. Distribution: Collected fees are distributed as royalties to composers, authors, and publishers based on actual music usage.
Calculation Method:
•Net Distributable Revenue (NDR): The total license fees collected from each distribution channel.
•Total Music Seconds: The cumulative duration of all music played in that channel.
•Revenue Unit Factor (RUF): Calculated as NDR divided by Total Music Seconds, representing the value per second of music.
•Individual Royalty: For each song, multiply its total broadcast seconds by the RUF and then by the agreed share split to determine the royalty payment.
Formula:
Royalty Payment = (Duration of Song Play × RUF) × Share Split
Key Points:
•Each broadcaster pays a different net licensing fee.
•Broadcast duration data is provided by broadcasters to SAMRO.
•Share splits are pre-agreed ownership percentages among creators.
As a SAMRO member, you can access unit rates for each licensed entity through the SAMRO member portal https://portal.samro.org.za/. These rates are crucial for calculating your royalties, as they represent the value per second of music usage by different broadcasters. By logging into your account and navigating to the 'Documents' tab, you can view detailed information on how your earnings are determined based on actual music usage. This transparency ensures you have a clear understanding of your royalty distributions.
This system ensures fair compensation for music creators based on actual usage.
