New musicians' association to press for royalties

About 40 established musicians showed up for Monday's meeting of the new Association of Singers, Composers, Artists and Musicians (Akam), signalling a thirst for its presence in the industry.

Artists and bands, such as Ira Losco and Claire Baluci, together with Winter Moods and Scream Daisy gathered at the Vivaldi Hotel in St Julians to hear what the association had to say.

"Our intention is to move away from the petty squabbles that arise with every edition of the Eurovision. We want to forge ahead and the presence of some of Malta's top people in the industry was encouraging and shows we're on the same wavelength," said Grace Borg, managing director of Visual and Sound Communications and former Maltasong chairman.

The association - set up by Ms Borg; Howard Keith, Ira Losco's manager; Harriet Cochrane, who has worked with a record label in London; and lawyer Patrick Galea - was formed to protect and promote the rights of all musical artists in Malta.

Its presence is intended to fill the void left by Ukam, the Union for Composers and Authors, which however is now working to get its house in order.

"Unfortunately, Ukam was not pro-active enough, especially with some genres of music where artists and composers seemed to lack a common front to represent their interests," Akam said in a press statement.

"Although this is an association and not a union, various issues will be tackled with the prime intention of benefiting the local music industry, which has boomed considerably these last few years," it added.

One of the issues it plans to tackle is the fact that artists and songwriters have barely gained anything from the British-based Performing Rights Society.

The PRS is a non-profit membership organisation which collects licence fees from users and distributes the money to its members worldwide.

"Unfortunately, there's a lack of education when it comes to royalties and other legal matters regarding the industry and this is something the association has committed itself to address," it said.

All the members will be receiving educational information about the industry, while seminars and workshops will be held with international guest speakers.

Members will also have access to a legal representative for a free consultation, thereafter negotiable at a subsidised rate.

Mr Keith said the success of this association mainly depended on the number of members and their input.

The membership fee is Lm30 a year, while students pay Lm15. Bands of up to seven members pay Lm80.

For more information call 2133 0854.