New code of conduct for music industry

SINGAPORE : Music industry players have come together to launch the Code of Conduct for Collective Management Organisations.

This is to ensure greater transparency and accountability to both copyright owners and their licensees.

The code is to help tackle issues such as the use of copyright music videos in karaoke clubs.

This includes providing more transparency on how much they should be paid.

It also aims at establishing service standards for Collective Management Organisations (CMOs).

These are organisations that collect copyright fees on behalf of the artistes or copyright owners.

RIPS, a CMO, said it collects about S$2 million in royalty from concerts every year, while KNEX collects about S$100,000.

Service standards will be audited on a regular basis by an independent code reviewer that will be confirmed in two to three weeks. The auditor could be a lawyer or from a quality organisation like ISO (International Organization for Standardization).

The Code of Conduct sets out the principles and standards of services for CMOs, which ensure that the public has access to information about the type of rights, the role and function of CMOs, information with regards to licence fees, and efficient, fair and low—cost procedures to handle complaints and resolve disputes.

And in future, the code may be tweaked to keep pace with technology.

Edmund Lam, CEO and director of the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS), said: "The music industry is evolving rapidly, especially in the era of digital delivery. We do not know how the music will evolve through the delivery of music in the social media, through websites and so on. So probably, there will be minor changes to the Code of Conduct to accommodate such technological innovations."

— CNA/ms