Local artist not registering songs for royalties - NASCAM

The Namibian Society of Composers and Authors of Music (NASCAM) interim board chairperson Joseph Ailonga says the main reason local artists are not receiving royalties is that many members fail to notify the organisation of their works.Ailonga said members wrongly assume that once a song is played on the radio, it is automatically registered with NASCAM.“The biggest issue why local artists are not paid out by NASCAM is simply that most members do not notify their works in order to qualify for royalty payouts,” he said.“It is important that members notify NASCAM for every song they create instead of assuming that a song is registered once it is on the radio, because they are losing money that way.”Ailonga was responding to questions about how the N$150 000 in undistributed royalties will be managed or eventually allocated, following NASCAM's 10% increase in its 2024 royalty distribution.The organisation declared a total gross payout of N$2.53 million, noting that 52% of the net amount was paid to international music societies.After statutory allocations, NASCAM confirmed a net distributable amount of N$2.127 million. From the gross royalties, N$253 000, representing 10%, was allocated to the NASCAM Members Social and Cultural Fund, while N$150 000 was set aside as undistributed royalties.The net distribution was shared between local NASCAM members and international societies. International rights holders received N$1 098 462.68, accounting for 52% of the net amount, while N$1 028 537.02, or 48%, was distributed to local Namibian composers and authors.International societiesSpeaking to Network Media Hub (NMH) on Tuesday, Ailonga said the membership department will soon announce the unregistered works for members to come forward and notify NASCAM of their songs.Speaking on why the majority of the funds are distributed to international music societies, Ailonga said broadcasters continue to play more international music than local music.“The payment to international societies is based on reciprocal agreements; these give NASCAM the mandate to collect for international artists in Namibia, while those societies do the same for Namibian music in their respective territories,” he said.“NASCAM has embarked on an educational campaign to push for more local music on radios and in entertainment establishments. NASCAM will also be part of the Ongoma Music Awards as well as the NAMAs as part of its promotion of Namibian music. Furthermore, NASCAM forms part of the National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy (NIPPS) National Steering Committee; this policy will push for the revision of local content within the broadcast code. There are other plans to promote more Namibian music that will be announced soon.”Last year, The Namibian reported that NASCAM collected N$13 330 698 in royalty payments from music users for the 2023/24 financial year.However, some artists say they have lost confidence in the organisation, accusing it of poor transparency and weak monitoring systems.Proper monitoring Fernando Carlos, founder of independent record label Y-not Records, said artists under the label never received royalties from their hit song Pretty Vibes, despite the track receiving extensive airplay on local radio stations.“We never received even one cent,” he said. “We went there to ask how they monitor whether our songs are being played on radio and how they count airplay, but we did not get proper answers,” he told NMH.Carlos questioned NASCAM’s explanation that only a few radio stations pay royalties, arguing that stations such as Fresh FM, which heavily play local music, should be contributing.“There’s no way a song can stay number one for months and nobody knows how many times it was played,” he said.Carlos also criticised the lack of a proper monitoring system, comparing NASCAM to South Africa’s SAMRO, which he said digitally tracks songs whenever they are played.“It breaks artists’ morale because it feels like NASCAM is not there for us,” he said.Namibian rapper Sunny Boy, whose real name is Pendukeni Andreas Sunday Shipushu, also expressed concern over declining royalty payments and a lack of transparency.“When we started making music, the royalties were okay and fairly high, but after a couple of years they just started going down, and I don’t understand why,” he said.Sunny Boy said NASCAM should do more to enforce royalty collection and protect artists from piracy.“They could be fighting more for artists by demanding royalties from radio stations and helping combat bootlegging and piracy,” he said.Despite his criticism, the rapper said he still believes the organisation can improve.“I believe NASCAM can change with the right people in position and with more transparency,” he said. “At the end of the day, NASCAM is our home. We are not just criticising it – we want to help it grow.”Another artist, who asked not to be named, said he had previously been contacted by NASCAM to collect royalties, but claimed the amount offered was too small.“So because the money was too low I decided to let it sit for a while. That was about two years,” he said.“The other problem I know of is that NASCAM’s submitting system is a bit outdated because we have to provide physical copies of our songs via CDs or USBs which is a major inconvenience. It would make sense if we just had to upload the songs on a website.”He said the situation is even more difficult for artists living outside Windhoek.“This is a major problem particularly for artists located outside the capital city because to submit a song, one has to travel to Windhoek to physically submit one’s songs or album,” he said.According to NASCAM’s official website, the organisation is mandated to collect royalties from music users in Namibia on behalf of composers, authors and publishers under the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Act and the Berne Convention Treaty.NASCAM says royalties are collected from broadcasters, telecommunications service providers, venues and businesses using background music systems through copyright licences and blanket licence agreements.nikanor@nmh-hub.com.na

Local artist not registering songs for royalties - NASCAM

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Namibian Sun 2026-05-19

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Local artist not registering songs for royalties - NASCAM

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Namibian Sun 2026-05-19

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