Dear ECCO Members and Stakeholders,
I am Martin James, CEO of ECCO, and I take this opportunity to update you on our ongoing distribution process. Under highlight, in particular, is the upcoming royalty distribution scheduled for the week of 16 December 2024.
I am pleased to report that this distribution will include revenue collected for the period 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022. The payout will be made to earning members across the OECS as well as to regional and international sister societies.
This distribution will include income from the following sources: Broadcast, Carnival, General and Live.
- Broadcast
- Caribbean Hot FM (St Lucia)
- The Wave (St Lucia)
- RJL Radio (St Lucia)
- NTN (St Lucia)
- Prayz FM (St Lucia)
- Caribbean Radio Lighthouse (Antigua)
- Carnival
- U4Ria
- Calypso Monarch
- Soca Monarch
- Bacchanal Blocko
- St Kitts Carnival
- Carnival General (St Lucia)
- General
- Antigua & Barbuda
- Dominica
- Grenada
- St Lucia
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Vincent & the Grenadines
- Live
- CPL St Lucia
- CPL St Kitts and Nevis
This distribution will also include performances that were not identified in the 2023 distribution for the 2019 period and performances that were not identified in the March 2024 distribution for the 2021 period.
Regarding the General Category, these fees were collected from a variety of sources, including small events and annual licence holders across the OECS. This distribution also includes fees collected from broadcasters and live events where no logs were available. In instances where no data was provided, a 25% sample of logs from unlicenced radio stations was used.
It is important to note that although the majority of the data received from the various sources matched (were identified) against the registered works in our repertoire, a significant portion still remains unmatched (not identified). This is due to varying factors including poor data received from music users and sister societies, as well as songs not being registered by members.
I must highlight a concerning issue pertaining to the distribution figures for the region. Unfortunately, a smaller percentage of royalties stay within the OECS due to the limited amount of local content being broadcast. Additionally, the high level of non-compliance among broadcasters — both state-owned and private — significantly reduces the royalties earned by ECCO members. This includes radio stations, television stations, and cable providers that fail to adhere to legal licensing requirements. It is worth noting that there are no compliant broadcasters in Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. These challenges directly impact the earnings of our members and underscore the need for improved compliance and increased governmental support for local content.
At ECCO, we are committed and remain relentless in addressing these challenges. Our proactive approach will focus on reducing these variables and improving the overall efficiency and transparency of licencing, collections, and the distribution process, in line with international best practices and to the benefit of all rights holders.
We take the opportunity to express publicly our profound gratitude to all users/stakeholders who ensure that they respect, not just the rights of the creatives but also the governing copyright laws. I urge you to continue and call upon the others to please adhere to the laws and become compliant.
Moving forward, we will continue to educate and provide in-depth evaluations of the distribution process to help our members better understand how their royalties are calculated. We will also provide a comprehensive report on the distribution and to address any questions or concerns.
I am confident that our collective efforts will continue to yield positive outcomes for all our stakeholders. ECCO Protecting Music Rights.
For ease of process, during this distribution payout, members are advised to call the office before coming to the office. We remain at your disposal.
Thank you,
Yours faithfully,
Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights (ECCO) Inc.
