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Australasian Performing Right Association





BRIEF HISTORY

The first Performing right society acting as a copyright collecting society was established during 1850 in France. Co-operation between societies is formalised under the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), which was formed in 1926 and is based in Paris, France. Each member society is responsible for documenting the ownership of its own members' works and for issuing licences to music users within its territory. Reciprocal agreements exist between societies.

APRA was formed in 1926 and has represented the interests of music copyright holders in Australasia since then. In 1929, radio broadcasters in Sydney and Melbourne offered APRA £7 pounds a week to cover the cost of royalties with music broadcasts limited to 66 hours a week. (1) This arrangement broke down in 1931 with APRA banning the playing of records on air. The Australian Federation Of Commercial Broadcasting Stations was formed in that year to sort out problems with royalties and copyright issues and the stations agreed to pay a fixed sum for broadcasting rights.

In 1968, Australian Copyright Law was changed with the introduction of the ''Australian Copyright Act''. APRA manages the rights of its members under this act. It offers businesses and other organisations a range of licenses to use copyrighted music with APRA monitoring radio and television stations, concert promoters and cinemas in particular. Since 1997, APRA has also represented the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society representing Australasian music publishers.

As at 2005, APRA has 28,000 members in Australasia and represents the interests of 2 million creators and publishers from elsewhere in the world. It collected $146 million in royalties and distributes $127 million to copyright holders. (3)


APRA AWARDS


APRA also runs a number of awards to honour achievements by songwriters including the APRA Awards, the APRA Classical Music Awards and the Screen Awards.


APRA Awards


The APRA Awards were established in 1982 to honor songwriters and music composers for their efforts. The award categories are:

  • ''Song of the Year'' is voted by members of APRA and is considered one of the most prestigious of the awards. In the 2005 awards, Missy Higgins won for her song '' Scar ''.


  • ''Songwriter of the Year'' is voted by the board of APRA. In the 2005 awards, Jet won the Songwriter of the Year award.



  • There are a number of awards given for most performed work based on a statistical analysis of APRA's database. These awards include "Most Performed Australian Work of the Year", Most Performed Australian Work Overseas", "Most Performed Foreign Work", "Most Performed Jazz Work", "Most Performed Country Work" and "Most Performed Dance Work".



APRA - Australian Musical Centre Classical Music Awards


In 2001, APRA joined forces with the Australian Music Centre (AMC) to present awards for Australian classical music.. The AMC had been presenting awards for classical music since 1988 although funding cuts meant that no awards were presented between 1993 and 1995. The participation of APRA helped to secure the future of the awards which are the only Australian awards for contemporary Australian classical music. This award has been won by composers including Peter Sculthorpe , Richard Mills , Breton Broadstock and Ross Edwards .


Screen Music Awards


APRA presents award for music used in movies together with the ''


SEE ALSO



REFERENCES



  • "Australasian Performing Rights Association Awards" in Ann Atkinson, Lindsay Knight and Margaret McPhee ''Encyclopedia of the Performing Arts in Australia'' Allen & Unwin 1996 published on Macquarie.net, 2005



FOOTNOTES


(1) Macquarie Library, ''Encyclopedia of Australian Events'' 1997 Bryce Fraser editor accessed through MacquarieNet

(2) ''Encyclopedia of Australian Events'' Op. Cit.

(3) APRA About Us

(4) ''Undercover News, Kasey Chambers proves Pretty Enough for APRA Award'' May 20, 2003 {Link without Title}