Maltese songwriters are threatening to call on the authorities to revoke the licence held by a British agency to collect royalties amid anger that they are not being paid their dues.
The Guild for Maltese Composers, Authors, Singers and Musicians (UKAM) is claiming that local writers did not receive more than €87,000 in royalties owed for 2007.
The guild explained that from the €500,000 collected by the Performing Rights Society (UK), which is licensed to collect royalties in Malta, they received little over €100,000 when the figure should have been closer to €190,000.
During an extraordinary general meeting on Monday, UKAM, which represents artistes from all genres of music, said the royalties, consisting of 56c every time a song was played, suggested by the Performing Rights Society (UK) was "too low and unacceptable".
This is irking artistes who work hard for some recognition for their music. Singer Ira Losco said the issue went back many years, even before she started her music career. She said local artists had been complaining to PRS since 1991. "It seems like they are taking us for a ride," she said.
Ivan Grech, from Winter Moods, said that over the past eight years the popular band received nothing close to what it was due in royalties, adding that this was a big disincentive and that the money would be injected back into the music.
The guild is asking for a play rate of €3.26 for the period 2000 to 2007 and €5 from 2008 onwards, with the rate then being revised every year.
It insists that the 26 per cent administration fee imposed on writers was discriminatory because, in 2007, British writers only had under 11 per cent deducted from the royalties collected.
"This goes against the fundamental principles of equality," the guild said.
UKAM said that if PRS insist on such a high administration fee, the guild would retain 10 per cent of the fee to go into a beneficiary fund, which the writers could use. It insisted that a percentage of the gross amount collected from Malta should remain on the island and serve as a beneficiary fund, adding that UKAM and PRS could set the criteria for qualification for such funds.
It has also called for a reduction in tariffs, which should lead to more establishments paying their dues. It said PRS should offer incentives for radio stations to submit copies of their playlists, which would make it easier to calculate the royalties due.
"Royalties are vital in nurturing creative music talent. Music creators rely on receiving royalties whenever and wherever their work is used," UKAM said.
A spokesman for the Culture Ministry said it would be looking into the claims and would be meeting with UKAM to discuss the matter.
PRS said it had been approached by UKAM and its executive team would discuss the items raised imminently. It said a number of consultative meetings were held with PRS members in Malta during the year.
Earlier this year, PRS said it introduced a special one-off scheme to attempt to meet past claims for unlogged and unlicensed radio broadcast royalties. This had been agreed with the Maltese members during a meeting in July.