SOCAN today announced that it has completed an extensive deal with the performing rights organization, Ducapro, to deliver back-office royalty administration services across the Caribbean island countries of Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, and St. Maarten.
Under the services agreement, which SOCAN won in a competitive process, Ducapro will provide for the first time ever comprehensive performance right administration services for local and international music played on Dutch Caribbean Island radio stations. SOCAN will provide powerful back office services to support Ducapro’s pioneering work, based on its industry-leading technologies, including matching reported information from music used on licensed radio stations to the payment to the rights-holders who have earned royalties.
“SOCAN has the expertise to support paying international and local creators through tools and processes to make this happen,” said Ducapro legal counsel David Kock. “In collaboration with SOCAN, local music creators will have worldwide support in the collection and distribution of royalties, especially through digital media.”
In addition to SOCAN, Ducapro has the full support and backing of the Aruba Musician & Artist Association (AMAA), along with other local and regional artist associations and government entities. DK Legal, a Dutch Caribbean law firm, will collect local license fees on behalf of Ducapro and enforce the rights of local and international music rights holders.
These local and international partnerships will ensure Ducapro’s success as it expands from radio play into television, music streaming, and beyond.
“Our agreement with Ducapro is a rare opportunity to witness the start of a new performing rights organization in the Western Hemisphere, let alone being the services company that empowers it,” said SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste. “This speaks to SOCAN’s mission to lead the global transformation of music rights and, ultimately, bring even more value to our own members and stakeholders.”
With a rapidly expanding data set that currently totals over 22-million International Standard Work Codes (ISWCs), more than 66-million sound recordings and all their verified metadata, over 41-million International Standard Recording Codes (ISRCs) with more than 20-million linked to ISWCs, the SOCAN Group of companies has built an unsurpassed ability to match musical performances with rights-holders. The organization is widely regarded as possessing the world’s most powerful and accurate multi-territory, multi-rights database of music compositions and sound recordings.
Combined with a state-of-the-art technology and distribution infrastructure relying on its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) IT backbone, its Master Data Management (MDM) tools, and its private cloud infrastructure, the SOCAN Group is equipped to provide robust global third-party administration and back-office services for music-using businesses of virtually any size and description to enable them to deliver increased satisfaction on every level to their customers, clients or members.
