SAMRO COVID19 advice to artists right now is…
If you’re an artist in South Africa, listen to the SAMRO COVID19 advice.
President Ramaphosa’s COVID-19 address of the nation on Sunday rocked the South African boat. In an instant, everything changed.
We went from being cautious to having strict (and understandable) restrictions put in place.
These restrictions have affected many industries, including that of music, an industry heavily involved and reliant on SAMRO. Artists went from already struggling to make a living to losing once of their biggest sources of income: gigs.
In response to the banning of gatherings with more than 100 people, SAMRO chairperson Nicholas Maweni said:
“We are gravely concerned about what this ban on large gatherings will mean for our members’ financial well-being.”
Adding that “many will instinctively turn to SAMRO for financial bailouts. The financial pressure this will have on SAMRO is one that we are unable to bear.”
A penny for your thoughts
He then laid out the following plan to help its thousands of members:
- We request all our members to urgently contact their creditors, particularly the financial institutions and landlords and advise them of their changed financial situation and negotiate payment terms to avoid tarnishing their good credit records.
- We call on all event owners not to cancel but postpone shows and events until the ban on large gatherings has been lifted.
- We call on the financial services industry to take cognisance of the erratic nature of SAMRO members’ earning patterns and appeal to banks and landlords, in particular, to be more lenient, at least in the next few months, should members request a rescheduling of their facilities’ repayment commitments, be they unsecured loans or asset-based finance instruments.
- We also call upon all the broadcasters to go beyond their mandates and play more locally produced music, which will help, in some way, to offset lost earnings from shows and events and will help with social cohesion in this time of need.
As much as the SAMRO COVID19 advice is true, it is not really offering their members any tangible assistance.
Sourced
