For the financial year ending 30 June 2008, the SAMRO Group posted record gross revenue in excess of R350 million. Consequently, it will be distributing the handsome amount of a quarter of a billion Rand among its members this year. “This year will see our highest distribution ever, and signifies a milestone for SAMRO,” said Bronwen Harty, General Manager: Finance and Administration. “SAMRO has consistently increased its revenue over the years, and continues to do so.
It’s been a very good year for SAMRO, even though it was a difficult year for business in general.” In her review of the year, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Annette Emdon, cautioned that while SAMRO’s performance was commendable, management and the board were mindful of the fact that the coming year might not be as good, given the global economic crisis and depressed consumer spending.
As the primary representative of music performing rights in Southern Africa, SAMRO collects license fees from users of music such as broadcasters, restaurants, live music venues and shopping malls, and distributes royalties to music composers, authors and music publishers who are members. It also distributes to international composers and authors whose music has been 'played' in South Africa, through their representative societies around the world. The organisation recently started administering ‘Needletime’ rights as well, which will enable musicians to receive payment for the use of their recorded material.
The AGM was preceded by a seminar in the morning, during which members had the opportunity to interact with senior SAMRO management and raise any concerns or queries. The annual report was also explained in depth.
The guest speaker was McDonald Netshitenze, the Director of Commercial Law and Policy at the Department of Trade and Industry, who addressed issues such as intellectual property rights. “We held the informal seminar in order to be of more service to our members, highlighting our commitment to good governance practice and transparency and ensuring that our members understand our internal processes,” explained Advocate Joel Baloyi, SAMRO’s General Manager: Legal and Governance Services, who is also the Company Secretary for the Group.
The workshop was followed by the statutory business of the AGM, which included an election to fill two vacancies on the Board that arose according to the Memorandum and Articles of Association of SAMRO. The results will be announced at a Special General Meeting of members, to be held by the middle of December.
Proceedings were translated simultaneously into English, Zulu and Sotho for the benefit of the members who were present, as part of SAMRO’s continued efforts to ensure that information is conveniently accessible and understood by all members. Printed copies of the full annual report were distributed to members at the AGM, following the postage of the abridged Financial Report with the notice of the AGM. The complete report and financial statements, including the report of the auditors, are available from SAMRO’s offices or online at www.samro.org.za
Contact Information:
Vanessa Perumal
(011) 788 7633 or 083 268 1446. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
JT Communication Solutions SAMRO
(011)7887633 www.samro.org.za
