Beat Bulletin September 2017

He didn’t compete for the spotlight with the film’s stars, Pearl Thusi and Thabo Rametsi, but Rashid Lanie, who scored the South African feature film Kalushi, did exactly what he was meant to do. He composed a score that never overpowered the on-screen talent, but enhanced their performances.

Lanie is a pianist, composer, producer and recording artist who has worked with performers including Paul Simon, Hugh Masekela, Bobby Womack and Jonathan Butler. He perhaps most recognised for his composition ‘The People Want Mandela’, which he worked on with Ray Phiri, Jennifer Ferguson and Victor Ntoni, to celebrate Madiba’s release from prison.

Rashid moved to Los Angeles from South Africa in 1994, armed with scholarships to the University of Southern California and the Musicians’ Institute in Hollywood. He still lives between both countries.

He and director Mandla Dube met “nine or 10 years” before they would begin working together on the script for Kalushi – the acclaimed biopic on late freedom fighter Solomon “Kalushi” Mahlangu.

But when the project finally got off the ground, Dube surprised Lanie by involving him in the process from the get-go, something the latter says he’s rarely experienced in South Africa.

The most important aspect in their relationship was trust. Lanie’s asset was his vision. He recounted one incident after watching early scenes of the film with Dube.

“When I first saw the first scenes of Solly carrying Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue album [Kalushi loved Miles Davis], which is his swansong album – and one of the greatest jazz albums released – I said: ‘I don’t think we should use that visual – let’s change it.’ When Solly walks to the gallows, it is 52 steps to the gallows. Five plus two is seven. Did you know Miles Davis also has an album called Seven Steps to Heaven?”

Lanie continued: “A lot of it [the thought that goes into a film’s scoring] is subliminal, but important nonetheless. That wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t involved early on – if Mandla hadn’t insisted I be involved.” As a result, in the film, Kalushi is now seen carrying the Seven Steps to Heaven LP.

He also mentions how important “spotting” is when considering a film’s score. It is a process that involves the director, editor and composer sitting together to watch the visuals in order to decide where the music and other sound effects will be placed to enrich the drama and evoke emotion from an audience.

By: Jonathan Shaw

When I started my journey in the music industry, the concept of music publishing and what a music publisher did was somewhat of a dark, mystical art to me.

I think what confuses most people is the blurry difference between publishing a record (a CD, MP3 or perhaps a “stream”) and publishing music itself. Now, this blurry difference comes down to what one has the right to control:

• A record company controls the recording of a performance of a piece of music.
• A music publisher controls the use of music and lyrics. A music publisher also licenses the use of creators’ music, collects the licence fees, defends their rights against unauthorised usages, pays out the songwriter their share, and promotes their catalogue as best they can.

The authorisation that a publisher gives to make the recording of their music is called a Mechanical Right in industry jargon and is often passed on to an organisation commonly referred to as a Mechanical Rights society. In South Africa, the society that administers Mechanical Rights is called the Composers, Authors and Publishers Association (CAPASSO).

SAMRO, on the other hand, administers Performing Rights (for music that is either performed in public or broadcast on mediums such as TV or radio).

One of the things that music publishers do really well is taking care of administration and ensuring that they, firstly, have the rights to the music by signing a deal with a songwriter. Often this includes taking ownership of the music but it’s not uncommon that a songwriter licenses, exclusively, their music to a publisher. This, however, may mean the publisher pays less attention to music they don’t own outright or that the deal is limited to administration only. Next, all the details for the music publishers’ new songs are now checked and this information is relayed to the collecting societies mentioned above.

The difference between start-up music publishing companies and established ones is the amount of business contacts and opportunities that each may receive for the music they represent. Unlike record companies that actively look at getting new recordings and performing artists on to the web, on radio and on the stage, music publishers will look at getting their clients’ musical works into new recordings, films, theatre productions and elsewhere.

Music publishers are often not concerned with how well a performing artist is doing, besides the fact that their success may fuel the popularity of a piece of music – which will often lead to other artists recording and performing the song. So, it is often the case that music publishers will spend much of their time fielding enquiries about the use of more popular works than making a work popular. Make sense?

Many new singers who also happen to be songwriters sometimes don’t understand this difference in business model when looking for a “publishing deal” for their music. In many ways, a new artist should try to get their recordings popular before finding a suitable music publisher. Many music publishers simply look to “play the lotto” with music, signing every song that comes their way in the hope that one will strike it lucky. There is nothing wrong with that, except that new songwriters looking to be made famous by a music publisher may be disappointed (side note: many recording artists are similarly disappointed in their record deals!).

Since SAMRO and CAPASSO take care of reproduction (Mechanical) and Performing Rights, the publisher is left to license deals for uses outside these two organisations, namely what the industry refers to as “synchronisation deals”. These deals give authorisation, for a fee, to individuals but more often businesses that may wish to use the music, such as using a song in a film or documentary.

Now, I mentioned that a publisher should be good at admin and this would also include tracking the usage of the work and holding SAMRO or CAPASSO accountable for the correct amounts to be paid. Publishers are also concerned with monitoring the unauthorised use of the music, or infringements on the owner’s copyright in the music, and could institute legal proceedings as a result. This policing is often challenging for smaller publishers and songwriters.

The best way to find a publisher is by reputation. Ask any expert in the field to list some good ones and also, if you see music you like in feature films and adverts, check the end credits for the publisher of those songs. Importantly, make sure your deal is fair.

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