The South African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) has urged some of their members who are yet to submit their updated banking details to do so urgently if they want to receive payment for royalties.
The organisation announced this week that it had distributed R22 million in unclaimed royalties to its members who had updated their banking details.
Samro says its project to track and trace its members who had incorrect or outdated banking details began in April 2021.
“So there needs to be correlation between what we have in our records as well as what you’ve told us is information that you have. If that information is not correct then that money can not be, there’s no transaction, the money can not be paid out. So what would then happen is that the bank, like any transaction, would return the money back to SAMRO siting that the bank details are incorrect. So we’ve really been on a drive to make sure that our members continuously update the banking details,” Samro CEO Annabell Lebethe explains.
Of the 1011 members, 68% are yet to submit their updated banking details, and they are urged to do so to finalise the process.
The digital platform also allows Samro members to update their banking details to receive payouts.
“It is worth noting that 1011 members have already engaged with the digital platform, and 32% of those members have successfully updated their banking details in the last six months, resulting in significant improvement in the organisation’s ability to pay members with accrued royalties,” Lebethe adds.
