BOMU welcomes P1,000 relief
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Sunday December 18, 2022 06:00
This week, the royalty collector and distribution organisation, COSBOTS offered a P1,000 payout to all its members to be disbursed before the end of the year. COSBOTS said the decision was taken to align with government’s interventions to try and stimulate the creative industry with a total of P3 million to be disbursed.
Speaking to Arts & Culture following the announcement, BOMU president Phemelo ‘Fresh Les’ Lesokwane said while outsiders might feel the money is too small, their members would nonetheless appreciate the gesture.
He also said as BOMU, they appreciate COSBOTS’ effort to relieve artists in the midst of harsh conditions besieging the industry. He said artists are still reeling from the COVID-19 impact with festivals failing to get up to speed. “I believe that the relief grant will help artists more so that the industry is not fully recovered from the COVID-19 impact and also that shows are not doing so well. It is enough considering that artists get as little as P400 from royalties after every six months because a lot still goes out to foreign artists in royalties.
So this is appreciated,” said Lesokwane. Lesokwane said the last time artists received royalty payments was in August, as such the next one will be in February. Meanwhile, COSBOTS said the current climate under which creatives operate, is an environment which has seriously been affected by restrictions from April 2020 to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The royalty and distribution organisation said as a result, artists are slowly recovering from the disruption where they could not undertake their regular creative sector income-generating activities.
It further said from a royalty collection perspective, many businesses in the retail and tourism sectors got closed which meant a drop in revenue collection for COSBOTS. "This ideal response through the financial support gesture offered to our artists is meant to serve as a token of appreciation for members’ resilience during the two-year period of crisis.
The priority for COSBOTS going forward is to licence every user, be it private or government because effective royalty collection and distribution will mean more money in the pockets of creatives," stated COSBOTS.