South African music has never had this much global attention. Amapiano has travelled far beyond its origins, while local artists are increasingly finding audiences, platforms and opportunities beyond the country.
However, is that reach actually turning into sustainable income for the people who make the music?
Chairperson of the Copyright Coalition of South Africa, Chola Makgamathe, custodians of the Partners Against Piracy campaign, spoke to The National where she shed a light on that very matter.
“While South Africa's music industry is growing, many creators are not capturing the full financial value of their work,” says Makgamathe.
The leaks in the system
On paper, the numbers look good. SAMRO reported a 15.4% increase in license revenue to R683.8 million in 2024, with digital revenue surging by 56.3%.
But Makgamathe says the biggest gaps are not in how much is coming in. They are in how much actually reaches creators.
“The biggest leaks in revenue are often administrative. Creators frequently lose out on royalties due to unregistered works, incorrect metadata, missing split sheets, and outdated banking details,” she says.
Then there’s the platform problem. Most major digital service providers are headquartered abroad. Which she adds makes African creators highly dependent on foreign algorithms and platforms to monetise local culture.
Piracy’s evolvement
It started with MP3s and peer-to-peer sites. Now it’s illegal streaming apps, unlicensed IPTV platforms, “stream-ripping” sites, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) models trained on copyrighted music without permission.
When a South African song is used without the necessary licence, what does that loss look like beyond the headline artist?
“Piracy does more than reduce profits; it erodes the creative backbone of the industry,” Makgamathe says.
And it’s not just the headline artist who loses. When a song is used without a licence, the money disappears for everyone behind it too.
“When a song is pirated or streamed without a license, it bypasses royalty collection systems entirely. This deprives composers, lyricists, producers, and publishers of their rightful mechanical and performance royalties,” she said.
It gets worse in the digital system. “Royalty tracking relies entirely on accurate metadata. Pirated platforms strip this data, ensuring that underlying rights holders earn nothing even if a track reaches millions,” Makgamathe adds.
SAMRO has reportedly long warned that piracy is not a “victimless crime”.
Every illegal download or stream is money not going into the next project, the next studio session, the next artist.
How big is the problem?
Makgamathe says the exact local loss figures are hard to pin down. However, the scale of the threat is evolving.
According to the market scale, Sub-Saharan Africa’s recorded music revenue reached $120 million by 2026, with South Africa accounting for 78.1% of that total, according to IFPI.
The newest threat is AI. The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers warns that unlicensed generative AI could divert up to 25% of creators' royalties globally. There are also reports of tech firms “scraping local catalogues to train AI without compensation.”
When it comes to the emerging artists, they will feel it the most.
“Independent artists feel it most. High data costs and illegal downloading hinder their ability to monetise, while royalty ecosystems inherently favour established artists with well-funded administrative support,” Makgamathe says.
And for consumers, those “free” sites come with their own cost. Makgamathe shares that they often appear to offer a shortcut to free entertainment but, in reality, they expose users to malware, phishing scams, identity theft and financial fraud.
What needs to change?
Makgamathe says we need structural shifts, not just more takedowns.
According to Makgamathe, for a path forward, there needs to be adapting to digital platforms and AI. For South African creators to gain control over their commercial value, structural and legal shifts are necessary.
First, legislation. The pending Copyright Amendment Bill aims to modernise digital protections. But in its current form, Makgamathe argues, “the provisions pertaining to exceptions and fair use would do more harm than good”.
She also notes the Bill doesn’t address AI, and that “there needs to be a proper regulatory framework for this”.
Second, better systems.
“There is a critical need for clear, interoperable rights registries, quicker payment cycles, and more transparent reporting from streaming platforms to reduce royalty leakage.”
Third, AI licensing.
“The industry is looking at tools like 'Creative Weight Attribution', a patent-pending tech to measure an AI model’s influence from an artist’s work, to enable automated licensing,” she said.
The Partners Against Piracy’s new PSA with MultiChoice Talent Factory and Pabi Cooper tries to make that human. It puts songwriters, producers, sound engineers, session musicians, videographers and stylists at the centre to show that one illegal stream has a ripple effect.
What creators are seeing on the ground
For Tumelo Ruele, founder of Scorpion Records SA, the global attention around South African music is undeniable. He says local sounds are being played and booked internationally, with amapiano and Afrohouse finding their way into global playlists, DJ sets and collaborations.
But he says the financial reality does not always match the scale of that attention.
According to Ruele, streams often generate limited income, while money from songs that gain traction abroad can be delayed or held up by incorrect metadata, slow royalty payments and the time it takes for revenue to move through labels and distributors.
Touring and international DJ bookings can offer stronger earning opportunities, he says, but those come with their own costs, including visas, flights and cuts taken by agents and management.
Ownership of masters and publishing rights also remains central to whether creators can benefit from their work over the long term.
Ruele says he has seen more opportunities in the past two years, including collaborations, placements and international interest, but believes the industry still has some way to go before that growth translates into sustainable income for creators and those working behind the scenes.
Artist Wade Yarrow, meanwhile, says missing royalties and poor metadata remain a major problem from an artist’s perspective.
She says a song can gain traction through TikTok, radio and clubs without the money necessarily making its way back to the people who created it. Incorrect or incomplete information, including writer credits, ISRCs and split details, can make it difficult for collection societies to identify who should be paid.
Wade Yarrow says the problem can become even more complicated when music is re-uploaded, remixed or reposted without the correct information attached.
Piracy can also result in songs appearing on YouTube, blogs and compilations without proper attribution, leaving artists without compensation for the streams and views generated before the content is removed.
Their experiences bring the issue back to the question at the centre of the issue.
South African music may be travelling further, but reaching a larger audience and turning that reach into sustainable income are not necessarily the same thing.
“The conversation about piracy is no longer simply about protecting songs, it is about protecting the people, businesses and industries that make the creation and distribution of those songs possible,” Makgamathe adds.
“As technology evolves, so too must our commitment to ensuring that artists are recognised, respected and fairly compensated for the value they create. Addressing piracy requires more than stronger enforcement; it requires changing behaviour.”
Because when creators are protected, creativity flourishes. And when creativity flourishes, the whole industry, and economy, benefits.
nomathamsanqa.sithathu@nationalmg.co.za