15/05/2024
Get your music on cell networks
The following distributors specialise in submitting caller tunes for the South African market:
Content Connect Africa(https://www.contentca.co.za) is a media content business situated in Johannesburg. It provides digital distribution, marketing, publishing and submission of music for ringback tones. Contact the company directly for the latest fees and rates.
Caller tune payment structures
Caller tunes are considered to be pieces of digitally reproduced and distributed music. Therefore, they generate mechanical royalties. In South Africa, CAPASSO is the organisation mandated to collect these royalties and distribute them to its members.
Mobile networks that provide caller tunes apply for a licence from CAPASSO, which requires them to pay a percentage of revenue for each caller tune that is sold sold/used. Every three months, the mobile networks will provide CAPASSO with usage reports. CAPASSO calculates the amount owed, deducts an administration fee and then pays the balance to the composer. CAPASSO typically pays ringback tone royalties as part of its digital distribution payments, and it can take between three to six months for revenue from caller tunes to reach the composer(s).
An alternative payment path is to provide ringback tones on a contractual basis. This usually occurs when a music publisher gets a request from a production house or distribution company to make custom caller tunes. The entity pays the publisher a set fee and the publisher either gets composers to write these custom ringback tones, or else the publisher provides options from their already existing catalogue. In some cases, musicians can act as music publishers themselves and compose custom caller tunes. This method still generates mechanical royalties, but can also earn an upfront payment
With years of experience in the African entertainment industry, CCA has established itself as a trusted content aggregator and provider across the continent and beyond.
