Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights (ECCO) pays local members

The Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights (ECCO) Inc, the St Lucia based music royalty collection and distribution organization, yesterday made royalty payments totalling $340,000 to its local members and members of international affiliates.{{more}}

A release from ECCO said the payments include fees collected in the ECCO territories for the period January 1 to December 31, 2012 from broadcasting and general performances; previously unidentified performances rescued from pending sources; overseas royalties received from ASCAP (USA), COSCAP (Barbados), COTT (Trinidad & Tobago), JACAP (Jamaica), PRS (UK), SACEM (France) and SGAE (Spain).

According to the release, members should benefit from further distributions scheduled to be made in the months of November and December from royalties derived from the licensing of major live events, including: Dominica’s World Creole Music Festival 2011/2012; St. Lucia Jazz 2012; St Kitts Music Festival 2012; St Lucia Carnival 2013; Vincy Mas 2013 (St Vincent & the Grenadines); Spicemas 2013 (Grenada)); National Performance Programme 2013 (St Lucia).

ECCO general manager Steve Etienne says “Although ECCO’s disbursement of royalties is expected to surpass the level achieved last year, these royalties are still relatively small change when shared among our local and international songwriter members whose music continues to be enjoyed throughout the territories, but many users remain largely unlicensed. Only by stepping up the licensing of users across the OECS can creators benefit at a level relative to the wide use of the music repertoire ECCO administers”.

ECCO is an association of composers, songwriters and music publishers and is the legal entity responsible for administering the performing rights of its members and members of affiliated societies in the OECS. Through reciprocal agreements with affiliated societies worldwide ECCO has control of the world’s music repertoire, that is to say, ECCO is responsible for licensing all public use of music in the OECS.