Although this matter is currently subject to litigation, the general consensus seems to be that the needletime royalty collected by SAMPRA will/should be shared by the record companies and the artists on a 50/50 basis.

The actual tariffs to be paid are also the subject of litigation before the Copyright Tribunal. (For example SAMPRA believes that a broadcaster that uses music as 100% of its content should pay 10% of its advertising revenue, one that uses music as 80% should pay 8% of its advertising revenue and so on; the broadcasters, naturally, disagree.) Thus, although no finalized table of actual tariff rates is yet available due to the litigation, we think we know what percentages will be paid out to whom (since this seems to be generally agreed, despite the litigation, and there are overseas precedents): needletime royalties to record companies should theoretically comprise half the income with the other half going to the performers. Of the performers’ half, this amount should be further split on a 65%/35% basis. 65% should be shared between the “featured performers” on the sound recording, and 35% between the “nonfeatured performers” on the sound recording. It should be noted that this proposed 65%/35% split is not a directly-legislated law in South Africa.

Nick Matzukis - HOD of Music Law at Academy of Sound Engineering