APRA AMCOS announce board election results

Australasian rights management organisation APRA AMCOS held two annual general meetings in Sydney yesterday and returned the incumbent directors to both boards.

Re-elected to the APRA board were writers Chris Neal and Amanda Brown and publishers Philip Walker and Ian James.

Jenny Morris and Ian James were named chair and deputy chair of the APRA board.

On the AMCOS board, publishers Jaime Gough, Matthew Capper, Ian James and Peter Hebbes retained their positions.

Ian James and Marianna Annas were named chair and deputy chair of the AMCOS board.

APRA and AMCOS board directors are elected by their respective memberships through a secure ballot.

The process and results are audited and verified by APRA AMCOS’ independent auditors, KPMG.

The organisation recently posted its biggest financial year to date, with group revenue of $420.2 million reported, an increase of 8.7% from the previous period.

More members earned royalties for more songs than ever before: royalties were paid on 10% more songs and compositions than last year, with 1,441,485 works generating earnings for 47,648 songwriter, composer and publisher members.

APRA AMCOS stresses that while digital distribution and streaming grab the headlines, the live music circuit remains crucial to artist development and career sustainability.

In the past week, APRA AMCOS paid $7 million in live performance royalties to Australian and New Zealand members who submitted Performance Reports for their gigs during the 2017-18 financial year.

A record 17,499 members received live performance royalties, with 15,663 of those being unpublished songwriters.

APRA AMCOS chief executive Dean Ormston commented, “The live performance royalty funds our members’ creative and business endeavours, which in turn contribute to a thriving live music sector across all of Australia and New Zealand.”