TikTok inks deal with South Africa's SAMRO and CAPASSO

By Emmanuel Legrand

Short-form video platform TikTok has signed a multi-year licensing agreement with South Africa's performance rights society Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) and mechanical rights licensing agency Composers Authors and Publishers Association (CAPASSO). 

  The deal will ensure that songwriters, composers and music publishers represented by these two organisations will receive royalty payments when their music is used on the platform. SAMRO and CAPASSO represent the rights of thousands of music creators across Africa.   

  Through CAPASSO's existing partnerships, the agreement will cover 58 territories across the African continent, and includes repertoire belonging to 21 separate collective management organisations. CAPASSO will administer the agreement on behalf of thousands of their members and affiliate members. 

Connecting with a global audience

  "TikTok is delighted to enter into this agreement with SAMRO and CAPASSO, ensuring that songwriters, composers and publishers across Africa can benefit when their music is used on TikTok. This is an exciting region for us with a huge pool of incredible talent, and I look forward to connecting them with our global audience," said Jordan Lowy, Head of Music Publishing Licensing and Partnerships at TikTok.

  Wiseman Ngubo, CAPASSO Chief Operations Officer, said: “We are happy to have reached an agreement with TikTok in order to ensure that pan African songwriters are taken care of on the platform. As a social music platform, TikTok has revolutionised how we engage and consume music. TikTok allows fans to co-create, contextualise and re-interpret their favourite songs  alongside their favourite artists and drives engagement and a deeper appreciation of songs in an era when music consumption is increasingly divorced from context."

  Added Ngubo: "With the increasing spotlight on African music, more African songwriters are poised to reach global superstar status and TikTok will play a major role in showcasing their talents to the world.”