ROBERTO SAYS MOST ARTISTS DON’T KNOW THEY HAVE TO REGISTER THEIR MUSIC BEFORE RELEASE
Roberto took a moment to share some advice with his fellow artists while on PRIME TV’s Yatu Vibes hosted by PMC on protecting their brand name and music from copyright infringement.
The singer responding to PMC, who asked, based on his experience, what his take is on copyright infringement and if it’s something artists should take seriously, particularly on registering their names.
He noted with concern that a lot of hit songs currently, if an enquiry was made with ZAMCOPS, the findings would be that they aren’t registered.
“If you go to ZAMCOPS right now and ask them to say are majority of these songs were dancing to registered with ZAMCOPS, they’ll probably tell you, no, they’re not. There are a lot of artists that(who) don’t even know that they need to register their songs before they release them. They don’t know,” said the singer.
The singer said he registers his songs before release, including his recent release, “Dear Phone.”
He revealed that he is usually given UPC, ISRC numbers, which he then pairs with his song when he distributes it to various digital streaming platforms.
Roberto further added that artist registering their names and songs not only protects them from other people using them without authority but also have backing when claims of having stolen the song they released come through which he acknowledged that they are rampant.
“Register your music before you release it. It’s important because if I register my song today, I release it and then four days later it becomes a big song and then PMC comes and says, no, Roberto stole my song I could sue you because then I registered it,” said the singer.
Roberto concluded by suggesting that it is important to hold workshops where artists can be mentored and teach each other on such matters as the world is currently in a digital era.
