Neighbouring rights collected by SCAPR members were down 8.3% to €779m in 2020

 

By Emmanuel Legrand

Neighbouring rights's collection societies for performers have suffered a general decrease of 8,3% in collections compared to the previous year, down to €779 million, according to figures published for the first time by Brussels-based organisation SCAPR.

  Regarding payments, SCAPR members, which collect performance rights on sound recordings, "have engaged significant efforts to enhance their distribution process in order to speed up payments to performers, strongly impacted by the pandemic." It has resulted in a 15% increase in payments compared to 2019, with €667m paid out to performers in 2020, which is €85m more than the previous year.

  This amount was distributed to more than 1.62 million performers in 2020, 220,000 more than the previous year (+15,7%). "Despite the unprecedented difficult times, SCAPR has supported initiatives by members who have made considerable efforts to fast track payments to performers," said the organisation.

Strong revenues from private copying

  Revenues from public performance, which were the top source of revenues in 2019, were the most affected in 2020, due to the closing of shops, malls, bars and restaurants during many months last year. While they represented €228m in 2019, the collections were down to €170m in 2020, down 25,5%.

  "Other main types of rights (private copying, radio and TV broadcasting) were less or even not affected by the economic consequences of the pandemic," noted the organisation.

  Private copying was the largest source of revenues in 2020, up 4.2% to €205.9m. This stream of revenue is not present in all countries. In Europe, for example, the private copying scheme exists in France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, among others, but is not implemented in the UK.

TV up, radio down

  TV broadcasting revenues were stable at €137m, but collections from radio broadcasting suffered from lower advertising revenues due to the lockdown, with collections down 9.1% to €124.9. 


(Source: SCAPR)

  SCAPR unveiled that flows of revenues between members, through unilateral or bilateral agreements, represented almost €150m in 2020, a limited 1% decrease compared to the previous year.

Welcoming new members

  SCAPR said the coming year will see "the actions of SCAPR continued in order to further develop better and fairer remuneration streams for performers on a global scale."

  SCAPR now counts 57 members’ CMO from 43 countries, with the inclusion at the recent May 27 AGM of UCLRR, from Ukraine, as SCAPR Associated member. Other SCAPR members include PPLin the UK, ADAMI in France, SENA in The Netherlands, among others.