Sony Music Africa announces two new features to help artists get paid

Sony Music Entertainment Africa has unveiled two new features to help artists see their account balances and track the progress of their work in real time.

The announcement of these features was made in May 2019, in a letter to Sony Artists. In a report by IT News Africa these features will available for Sony’s artists in Africa.

The new features available in Sony’s music portal are, Real Time Royalties and Cash Out.

Real time royalties

Artists can now see how well their work is doing globally in real time. This feature also eliminates long periodic cycles artists have to wait to see royalties and account balances. This information will be available to artists anywhere, anytime. Artists will gain insights on their earning trends, so they may make informed decisions.

Cash Out

This feature will enable artists to request the payable balance monthly, either in part or in full. Sony say there will be no hidden charges or fees with these transactions.

“The high level of transparency and efficiency in these tools is aimed at making doing business between us clearer, faster, simpler and more direct for our artists and partners and it comes at a time when we all need as much of that as we can get,” 

Sean Watson, Managing Director of Sony Music Entertainment Africa

This is move by Sony follows up the announcement they made in 2018 that they would be sharing the proceeds from the sale of Spotify equity with artists and labels.

Sony grossed US$750 million for the sale. Sony according to Music Business Worldwide would share the proceeds with all eligible Sony partner labels and artists regardless of the nature their contract. They would also overlook all unrecouped balances from both artists and labels.

I am all for empowering artists and giving them greater access. The battle between label and artist for royalties in as old as the industry itself. Many artists have gone independent or joined smaller labels to be able to have a voice. These moves by Sony show that they are making steps to a more band and artist focused model.