KUALA LUMPUR: Recording Performers Malaysia (RPM) board member Jaclyn Victor denied allegations of incompetence and mismanagement in the carrying out of duties for the body that collects and distributes music royalties for recording artistes.
The award-winnning 42-year-old singer said that the negative statement from Persatuan Karyawan Malaysia (Karyawan) was not true since the collected royalties had already been distributed several times over including most recently as well.
"There have already been eight distribution sessions carried out. Just because we don't broadcast it to all and sundry, doesn't mean that we are not doing our jobs.
"The payouts are only for recording artistes who have registered as RPM members and are also dependent on how frequently their songs are played in public spaces. We cannot carry out collections for recording artistes or musicians who are not RPM members.
"It is only for RPM recording artistes whose songs are played on the radio and at venues that have been recognised to receive royalties," she said in a news report yesterday.
The artiste fondly known as Jac, who had been appointed as an RPM board member together with Altimet, Ana Raffali and Aniu, added that if a song was popular it would be played on the radio and made available at karaoke centres.
"There is a connection and continuity to this. It is based on the frequency of the tracks being played at shopping malls, karaoke centres and the like," she said.
According to the Gemilang hitmaker, only RPM members who make claims for their songs will receive royalties.
"If there are RPM members but they don't provide us with actual details of their involvement with a particular song, then there will be trouble.
"As an example, I sang on the song Gemilang but I don't know who played the music on it. If I myself don't know this, then how would regular people know any better?
"Only those involved will know what songs they've played on. The singers are easy to identify but it's complicated for the other musicians.
"So if you are an RPM member but you don't make a claim, then you won't get any royalties. That's not to say that we are taking the money for ourselves. The money is there, and you have to work a bit, to just come over and claim it," she said.
Jac added: "What is important to us is that our members know that we have been carrying out our work. If we haven't been doing our jobs, then there would not have been any payments made."
"Since we started at RPM until last month, we've already had eight payment sessions if I'm not mistaken," she said.
In a related matter, Jac explained that they have already given their full cooperation to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) with regards to the controversial issue.