CURTIS CAMPBELL, STAR Writer

In light of a previous article carried by The Weekend STAR regarding the Jamaican Copyright Act Of 1993, and the role of the Jamaica Music Society (JAMMS) as a collecting society, some local promoters have expressed concern that paying another licence fee can be destructive to their businesses.

JAMMS stated that the society would manage producer rights by licensing a wide array of music users, such as radio stations, hotel properties and party promoters, giving them the authorisation to broadcast and or play music publicly from the global repertoire administered by JAMMS, and in so doing, collect licence fees, which will ultimately be passed on to the owners of the rights as royalties for the use of their works.

However, according to Julius Morgan, one of the promoters of All-sland Carnival, the decision by JAMMS is putting promoters under more pressure.

"What this is doing is forcing a lot of promoters out of the business. The cost of production is very high because it is very expensive to keep parties in Kingston as it is," he said.

Morgan expressed that the business of promoting events is dwindling due to the current 2 a.m., lock-off time. He also believes that local promoters cannot afford any more expenses.

"Parties are being turned off too early, as early as 1 or 2 a.m., and some venues in Kingston will cost as much as $200,000, plus the parish council has to get paid, JACAP as well as others, if we don't get in the excess of 1,000 patrons, the event is a loss and that is a strain on parties in Kingston," he said.

Morgan also believes that there is a decline in the number of outdoor events, and blames this on increased production expenses.

"We had parties that were kept three times per year, and now they are either no more or they are now heading to the clubs to become club events. I am also a music producer but I am not in support of this fee," he said.

Miguel Reid, the entertainment chairperson at Taylor Hall, UWI, Mona campus, also commented on the issue. According to Reid, producers should be compensated for their work, however, there must be another way to do so.

"The reality is that events are already too expensive to host, especially if you want to deliver a quality product. Sometimes, promoters don't have that start-up cash and are depending on the event to be a success, so it is going to be even more difficult factoring new fees at that point. There must be another way to make amends, I would wheel and come again," he said.

Ann Pelpa of Khaotic Entertainment disclosed that she does not believe that music producers will truly benefit from the new licence fee being suggested by JAMMS. Pelpa also agreed that production expenses were already too high.

"I don't know much about the music business, but I don't think the producers will really benefit from this, the expenses are already high. It's like they want us to keep parties without music," she said.

According to the release sent by the general manager at JAMMS Evon Mullings, promoters should indicate the size of the event by declaring to JAMMS the estimated number of patrons for the event, and based on the size of the event, the promoter will pay the applicable licence fee. JAMMS will then issue a payment receipt along with the copyright permit for public performance of sound recordings.