Appendix 6 - International Music Council

• Inadequate and outdated copyright legislation, particularly with regard to
needletime.
• Widespread piracy and copyright infringement that disables the growth of the local
music industry.
• The ineffectiveness of the IBA's (now called ICASA – Independent
Communications Authority of South Africa) local content monitoring system and
the low levels of local content in the media.
• The prevalence of unfair contracts - historic and current - leading to a polarised and
hostile industrial relations environment.
• A legacy of disempowerment and lack of access to education, training and
information about the economics of the industry among musicians and related
workers, coupled with a lack of transparency and accountability of key players
within the industry.
• An imbalance in power relations in the industry that negatively impacts on its
growth - in particular, the inadequate definition of musicians’ status as workers in
labour legislation which undermines their access to legal protection and other
benefits 5 .
• Widespread experience of ongoing racism and sexism within the industry.
• The isolation of aspirant musicians living outside of Gauteng. (Note: Gauteng is
South Africa’s economic heartland – the smallest but wealthiest of the nine
provinces into which the country is divided.)
• Inadequate funding for music development.”
MITT’s recommendations then followed and are given under the relevant headings in
Addendum 3, at the conclusion of this report.
A very recent development, coming well after MITT’s recommendations, has been the
establishment of AIRCO – the Association of Independent Record Companies. Their
website is not yet even up and running, but they can be contacted via irfaan@chissa.co.za
or asstel@worldonline.co.za. AIRCO’s focus is on local record companies whereas
RISA (mentioned above) focuses on the multi-national record companies in South Africa,
and the distribution of their music here locally.
II.2 Informant Marianne Feenstra, under the second term of reference defined for this
study, made the following two specific points, related firstly to an educational aspect, and
secondly to tourism: “The curricula developed over the past 5 years have included
development of the music industry as a prerogative, particularly up to NQF level 4
(Grade 12)”. Also “Many ‘cultural villages’ now also include music groups that perform
5 In an email to the author of this report, informant Mbiba noted “power relations could also include market
monopoly by the multinational companies – in production and distribution of music. Distribution of SA
music abroad and broadcasting of local music in our local stations have been an issue for independent
record producers who are on the mercy of the multinational companies for mastering, packaging,
warehousing and distribution. In as far as broadcasting is concerned, multinational companies are only
interested in giving more play to international artists. In a way SA is being used as a market territory for
international music. Monopoly in production and distribution also mean that revenues in the value chain are
being leaked out the country through these multinational companies.
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