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Taufik featured in The Straits TimesLife!: 19 May 2009
Music Royalties On The Rise
IF YOU thought music piracy via illegal downloads meant royalties were on the decline, think again. Royalty payments have actually gone up, says the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (Compass), which gave out its annual awards last Sunday night to top royalty-earning local artists and composers.
Royalties refers to payments to writers and musicians when their compositions are sold or performed. They are usually calculated based on a fixed percentage of the profits from the sales.
The society's chief executive and director Edmund Lam said in his speech at the Raffles City Convention Centre that the society chalked up an 8 per cent growth in royalty takings to $14.3 million last year.
The organisation protects the copyright interests of composers, authors and publishers of musical works and their related lyrics.
Compass' assistant public relations manager Rachel Wong tells Life! that the increase in royalties came from performances, sales of albums and broadcast of songs.
Composer and jazz pianist Jeremy Monteiro, who sits on the board of directors of Compass, says the increase in the number of public performances has contributed to the increase in the royalties over the past year.
Music industry stalwarts Dick Lee won the award for the top royalty-earning local composition in English and Peter Lee won for the equivalent award for a Chinese song.
Peter Lee says that in the past, people had to purchase CDs for songs but these days, via the Internet or through mobile phone service providers. This has added to the steady growth in royalties.
He declines to say how much he earned from his top royalty song, Wo Huai Nian De (What I Fondly Remember), from 2007, which Stefanie Sun performed.
Dick Lee says he earns between 2 and 5 per cent from the ticket sales of his musicals.
He says he was surprised at his win for Prison Of Love, an English song which he recorded 10 years ago for his album Transit Lounge: "I don't know where in the world they are playing this, but someone must like it."
He tells Life!: "When I heard about the award, I asked,'Are you sure?', because I haven't written an English song in ages."
Other award winners at last Sunday's dinner include Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao's senior correspondent Woo Mun Ngan, a journalist of 18 years who received a new award - Patron of Singapore Music Writers Award - her contribution in the promotion of the local music industry through her writings.
Local Chinese popstar JJ Lin won the award for top local artist, top local soundtrack and top local songwriter of the year.
First-time recipient and Singapore Idol Taufik Batisah bagged the award for top local Malay pop song for Usah Lepaskan (Don't Let Go), a love song from his 2006 album All Because Of You.
He says: "Music is something that I love and my mind is all set to do it for the long term." He adds that the royalties he has earned could probably buy him "a nice Panerai or Bell & Ross watch". The brand name watches start at $8,000.
So despite rife music piracy and illegal downloads, the outlook for music royalties still looks hopeful.
But artists still regard royalties as a bonus. Taufik says: "Piracy is something we cannot stop but whenever I received royalties, it is always a nice surprise."
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