MBABANE – The National Gospel Music Awards (NGMA) has announced a partnership with the Eswatini Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Society (ESWACOS), facilitated by the Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture.
The NGMA ceremony is set to take place on Saturday, November 29, at The Luke Commission (TLC) Auditorium at Sidvokodvo. The event recognises the finest talents in Eswatini’s vibrant Gospel music scene, with seasoned local artists battling for honours across 25 categories.
Through this strategic partnership, ESWACOS will provide specialised copyright registration support to all nominees and award winners. Furthermore, ESWACOS staff will be on-site during the awards to register any creative artists and provide essential information on registration and copyright licensing.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture, Stanley Dlamini, expressed profound gratitude for the collaboration.
“We are thankful for this strategic partnership with ESWACOS. It falls directly within the arts and culture mandate to partner with organisations that share our vision of developing and empowering Eswatini Artists.
Having ESWACOS as a major player is key to the growth of the Eswatini arts economy.”
Dlamini further acknowledged the critical importance of artist registration, confirming that the government has officially endorsed this mission.
“This partnership strongly promotes artists to understand and protect their copyright. We are fully supporting this cause as the government has officially endorsed this mission.”
Highlighting Eswatini’s growing influence in the global Gospel arena, Dlamini pointed to local stars Nothando Hlophe and Ndoni going head-to-head at the Crown Awards this Sunday in South Africa. He added: “It is a powerful statement that we are very influential in the Gospel scene.”
ESWACOS is the official collective management organisation in Eswatini, specialising in protecting and enforcing copyright protection, as well as the collection and payment of copyright royalties to creators and artists. Its core aim is to ensure artists are fairly compensated for the use of their work.
ESWACOS acts as a licensing body that collects and distributes royalties for various rights, including:
Mechanical rights: Compensation for the reproduction and distribution of musical works (for example physical or digital copies and streaming).
Performing rights: Royalties collected when copyrighted music is broadcast, played publicly (in venues, clubs or events) or communicated to the public.
The Executive Director of ESWACOS, Mmeli Hlanze, encouraged all creatives to join the movement, confirming the society’s commitment to all genres.
“This partnership marks the beginning of more collaborations. We invite all Artists, whether it is Gospel artists or any other genre, if you produce music, sing or write, we are here to help.
‘‘We provide services for all different copyright rights, covering composers, lyricists, music publishers and producers.” Hlanze confirmed: “We will have a team of specialists based at the venue on the launch day to offer these services. We strongly urge all nominees and attending artists to visit our stand and get more information about registering their works to become members.”
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