16 August 2013, Kuala Lumpur

The key local music industry players, namely Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM), Public Performance Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PPM), Music Authors’ Copyright Protection (MACP) Berhad and Persatuan Karyawan Malaysia (Karyawan) officially expressed their full support to Recording Performers Malaysia Berhad (RPM) in a show of unity, for the benefit of the music industry, in a joint statement made today.

Dato’ Sheila Majid, the Chairperson of RPM was extremely grateful with the endorsement and support given by the key players in the music industry. She said “All performers in the music industry, be they singers or musicians, should place great importance on this aspect of their careers as it is an additional source of income for us. We must ensure we gain our fair dues and this could only happen if we are united and stand together as one.”

“RPM only represents recording artistes and recording musicians (“recording performers”) and our membership does not include dancers, actors, comedians, students, etc. simply because our royalty collections is based on audio recording air play and public performance. We are very clear with our objective and we will collect and distribute royalties collected accordingly only to recording performers pursuant to Section 16B under the Malaysian Copyright Act, 1987. We acknowledge that MACP and PPM have being doing a splendid job for the past 23 years for the song writers and record labels respectively and we want to follow the best possible practices and we are determined to maintain transparency and fairness in the collection and distribution of royalties amongst the recording performers represented by RPM”, stressed Dato’ Sheila Majid.

“RPM places strong emphasis on democratic representation and transparent operations as there were numerous complaints and issues raised by recording performers in these areas in the past. We urge fellow artistes and musicians who have queries on their past royalty distribution to support Nan Alias in his request to audit the distribution done by the previous performers body prior to 1st January 2012”, said Dato’ Sheila Majid.

RPM has commenced collection with the full support extended by PPM, RPM’s exclusive collection agent with effect from 1st January 2012 onwards. “We should move forward together in support of each other and fight for our rightful representation and with the full commitment and support extended by RIM, MACP, PPM and Karyawan to RPM, we, as members of RPM can all expect a brighter future and better income from this day on God willing”, said Dato Sheila Majid.

“We strongly believe that the music industry will definitely do better if everyone in the industry stands united and support each other. Record companies, publishers, composers, lyricists and recording performers, who are involved in a production of a sound recording should be supporting each other in order for the music industry to continue growing rapidly”, said Encik Norman Abdul Halim, Chairman of RIM. RIM currently represents almost 300 recording companies and businesses, all of which are involved in the production, manufacturing and distribution of local and international sound, music video and karaoke recordings. He added that RIM will urge all its members to support and ask their recording artistes to join RPM.

“We are the collecting body representing composers, lyricists and publishers since 1989 and we are thankful for the trust and recognition given by various parties which attributed to the success of MACP. Without these composers, lyricists and publishers whom have remained united under MACP, we will not be where we are today. As elected members on the Board, it is our commitment to plan and decide in the best interests of our members” said Puan Habsah Hassan, the MACP Chairperson.

“We fully support RPM as we believe they are doing the right thing for their members in a transparent and democratic way and we encourage recording artistes and musicians to come together to support RPM”, added Puan Habsah Hassan.

Mr. Adrian Lim, the Chairman of PPM said “A licensing body since 1988, PPM has extensive manpower and resources to support RPM in terms of collective services throughout the country. With the support extended by PPM, it will be more cost-efficiency for RPM and therefore, members of RPM will be able to enjoy higher distributable royalties.”

Dato’ Freddie Fernandez added “Karyawan is calling all eligible recording performers to join RPM as we believe that RPM is the future for all recording performers. As the body representing artistes in the country, we will be working closely with RPM to encourage all recording performers who are members of Karyawan to register with RPM. Let us extend our full cooperation and support to RPM and ensure the success of its management in achieving their objective”

Encik Norman Abdul Halim, Puan Habsah Hassan, Mr. Adrian Lim and Dato’ Freddie Fernandez, as chairperson of their respective organisations in the music industry unanimously confirm their full commitment to RPM and to work hand in hand for better transparency and more effective operations for all.

With the pledge by RIM, MACP, PPM and Karyawan, and the determination of RPM to carry out its collection objectives, the music industry is set to look forward to better things through unity, fairness and prosperity for all its members.

-Recording Performers Berhad (RPM)