Woolworths, has been put in the doghouse by local musicians after it surfaced that the clothing, food and homeware franchise may choose to stop playing music by South African artists in its stores.

The company has a rocky history with local brands. Remember the Ubuntu Baba scandal?

Needless to say, after that drama, the company has been a little more careful when it comes to copyright law, especially in relation to local brands.

It looks like it decided to just avoid local altogether when it comes to the music it plays in stores.

TimesLIVE reported that Woolies is currently negotiating with the South African Performance Rights Association (SAMPRA) to renew their license to play local music in stores.

This decision to revisit renewing the license came after backlash from SA musicians, who were outraged following Woolies’ choice to play copyright-free music at their different franchise locations instead of local music.

“Music is such an intricate part of the culture of any nation. To try to completely take [it] away from the stores is literally turning its back on the rich history that we already have and what it is becoming,” Rapper Nomuzi “Moozlie” Mabena explained.

The Kiffness’ Dave Scott (below), who is also a member of SAMPRA, added that playing local music bolsters Woolworths’ ‘local and proud’ ethos and the extra income also means more much-needed support for the SA music scene.

“Obviously getting an extra passive income and revenue stream is really nice as a musician, as a lot of the bulk we receive is mostly from live shows and not a lot of musicians know that you can make money from royalties.

So if our music is played in restaurants and retail stores like Woolworths, and those places are licensed with Sampra, we can get a payout from their license fee. If Woolworths wants to keep their ‘locally proud’ brand, they need to keep their SAMPRA license and support local music.”

SAMPRA seems confident that Woolworths will relicense with the association, while Spokesperson for Woolworths, Kristen Hewett, has denied that the store discontinued the inclusion of local tracks on their store playlist.

“We love SA music, as our many partnerships over the years have shown. In fact, we are launching another exciting local music project with The Ndlovu Youth Choir. Watch this space. We have always played South African music in our stores. Our suppliers have been negotiating with Sampra regarding license fees for our stores and we are waiting for that to be resolved.”

While the talks between Woolworths and SAMPRA are confidential, local artists are feeling hopeful for a positive outcome for the SA scene.

Local is, after all, lekker. 

[source:timeslive]