JAMMS to give discounts to promoters

The Jamaica Music Society (JAMMS), in its bid to encourage and facilitate the re-emergence of the entertainment scene, parts of which remain in COVID-19 lockdown, will provide some concessions to the various groups with which the agency does business.

According to the CEO of the copyright licensing body, Evon Mullings, "One of our immediate responses has been to craft a policy that will enable us to be a practical and meaningful partner to the music-user community, which, ultimately, is the source of the revenues which we pay to members as royalties."

JAMMS, a non-profit organisation, was established to administer the intellectual property rights granted to record producers.

Its role as a licensing agency/collecting society involves the granting of licences to music users, including clubs operators, party organisers and show promoters.

This means, all persons or entities that broadcast or publicly perform sound recordings as part of their activities require a JAMMS licence. This permit attracts a fee.

OFFERINGS

Mullings told THE STAR that a discounted fee is among the concession that the society will be offering.

"We will be able to provide some concessions to event promoters, by way of permit fee discounts. Deferred payment and payment arrangements for multi-year licensees, such as clubs, restaurants and bars, are also being facilitated," he said.

According too the CEO, suppliers of goods and services, across the board, may have to do the same so as to help rebuild the sector into one of viability as it comes back on stream in phases.

"We view the music and entertainment industry as operating in a virtuous circle, and therefore we are extremely mindful of the health and viability of the entertainment ecosystem. We want to support and facilitate as best as possible, because if the businesses do not do well, we will not do well," he said.

Mullings told THE STAR that the society's primary goal is to "continue meeting the needs of our members, while remaining viable".

JAMMS, which makes royalty payments to members twice annually, enjoyed tremendous success last year.

"In fact, 2019 leading into 2020 was a record year for our income growth and as a result, we were able to carry out a third royalty distribution to our members in April 2020, on top of our usual two distributions made in July 2019 and December 2019," Mullings shared.