CREATIVES FIND MUSIC TARIFFS TOO HIGH

MBABANE - The second day of the Eswatini Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Society (ESWACOS) workshop saw creatives becoming more vocal about the very high tariff proposed.  

The second day of the workshop saw more event organisers and entertainment establishment owners attend to provide their suggestions on the tariffs. The ESWACOS Director Mmeli Hlanze stated that it was about time they had these engagements with creatives. “The workshop is essential for our local creatives as they also need to be compensated for their content and work,” he said.

During the presentation of the proposed music tariff drafts for local entertainment establishments some of the event organisers and festival representatives posed questions to the society. One of the event promoters, Mbekezeli Dlamini, expressed an interest in how the society arrived at these numbers. “I want to know where the team got the guidance for these proposed tariffs. Also, I want to note that we are a very small country and our economy is not the same as those countries they may have been benchmarking from,” he said. Dlamini also noted that the society did not consult with them before launching and drafting, which he believes they were the rightful people to consult before starting the whole process.  

Numbers

Hlanze responded that the society obtained the numbers from a stakeholder. “We had to start somewhere, we would not just propose tariffs without consulting relevant bodies, we got the numbers from the Eswatini Tourism Authority. We are having these workshops to consult with you people who are at the forefront of these events for your input as we value it,” he said.  
Bonkhe Motsa, one of the creatives present, expressed an interest in knowing how as rights holders they monitor the traction of their content after it has been released.  The executive director responded that the society would monitor their content annually. “We will be issuing public statements to the creatives that will explain how their data is processed and that system will show how the creative is supposed to earn,” he said.  

Worth mentioning was the MTN Bushfire organiser’s input, Jiggs Thornes, who appreciated the society’s efforts. “As an event organiser, I believe we need to create a more equitable environment for this act. In order to be sustainable we all need to find a middle ground and agree on the best possible outcome,” he said.  Banele Dlamini, who is also an event organiser, provided input on how they have it hard as organisers and how they do not ‘kill it’ at events. “These prices are too high for us. We may look like we have it easy as organisers when in reality most of the time we make a loss. It is very hard nowadays to get emaSwati to attend an event with a ticket costing over E200. Charging per ticket is killing us even further because we also have our own expenses from sound to security personnel,” he said. 

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