TikTok’s new royalties deal will strike the right note with SA musicians

06 April 2021 - 14:42 By Toni Jaye Singer
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African artists will receive royalty payments whenever their songs are used to accompany the short videos shared on TikTok. Stock photo.
African artists will receive royalty payments whenever their songs are used to accompany the short videos shared on TikTok. Stock photo.
Image: 123RF/bigtunaonline

Local musicians are set to cash in on the popularity of their tracks on TikTok thanks to a multiyear licensing agreement between the social media platform, the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) and the Composers Authors and Publishers Association (Capasso).

Samro and Capasso represent the rights of thousands of music creators in SA and across Africa, and this deal aims to ensure the artists will receive royalty payments whenever their songs are used to accompany the short videos shared on TikTok.

African tracks are already proving popular on the platform — videos tagged #Amapiano, for example, received 181 million views last year — and this agreement has the potential to catapult more of the continent’s musical creatives onto the international stage.

“As a social music platform, TikTok has revolutionised how we engage and consume music,” said Capasso COO Wiseman Ngubo.

“TikTok allows fans to co-create, contextualise and reinterpret their favourite songs alongside their favourite artists and this drives engagement and a deeper appreciation of songs in an era when music consumption is increasingly divorced from context.

“With the increasing spotlight on African music, more African songwriters are poised to reach global superstar status and TikTok will play a major role in showcasing their talents to the world.”


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