This week, APRA AMCOS publishes our annual Year In Review report, while also announcing the date for the AGM (annual general meeting), and opening voting for writer and publisher representatives on the APRA and AMCOS boards.
It’s been another challenging year for our members and licensees, but there have been many bright spots too, and we provide a full rundown of the economic and financial trends as well as the various programs and activities that have taken place in our comprehensive Year In Review report.
This year’s virtual APRA Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Tuesday 23 November 2021. The AGM is a chance for you to hear about how APRA performed during the 2021 financial year and ask questions of the APRA Board and management.
Members are also invited to vote for representatives to fill the vacant positions on both boards over the next three weeks.
Voting to elect directors to the APRA and AMCOS Boards is conducted before the AGM. Board election voting closes on Tuesday 16 November 2021 at 5:00pm AEDT. Voting is done via the member portal.
The results of the election will be announced at the virtual AGM on Tuesday 23 November 2021 and published on the APRA AMCOS website.
(Please note, if you are an earning member who is eligible to attend the AGM and/or vote, you will receive an email with the relevant information and links.)
While Bic Runga's continued term as the NZ APRA Writer Director means there are no positions for NZ writer members to vote for on the APRA Board this year, Australian APRA members (writers and publishers), as well as AMCOS members across both territories, are invited to vote in the board elections.
There are 2 vacant positions for APRA Australia Writer representatives on the APRA board; 2 vacant positions for APRA Publisher representatives on the APRA board; and 6 vacant positions for the AMCOS board.
It is an opportunity for the boards to become more reflective of our diverse membership, and the current Writer Directors serving on the board are keen to encourage members to engage in the process.
The six Writer Directors who currently represent the writer membership on the APRA Board are: Jenny Morris MNZM OAM (Chair), Amanda Brown, Mark Callaghan, Chris Neal, Bic Runga, and Jonathan Zwartz.
The following is a message from the Writer Directors on the APRA Board:
We are very proud to represent the writer membership on the APRA Board, and we are conscious that big challenges lie ahead for the company and for our membership at large. How do we support and protect the livelihoods of the APRA membership through the scarring devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic? How do we, as individual music creators ourselves, represent the varied interests and voices of our diverse writer and composer members, while leading and governing the business on behalf of the whole collective? How do we balance the complex commercial and compliance aspects of our responsibility with the increasing call from our membership for greater accountability on social issues such as equality, inclusion and diversity?
When our colleague and friend, Chris Neal, recently announced he was voluntarily stepping down from the APRA Board after 21 years of service, he said he was doing so in the hope that the writer membership would elect in his place a candidate that expanded the diversity of the APRA Board. We recognise and endorse the view that greater diversity of perspective on our Board will strengthen our ability to navigate these challenging times by bringing different viewpoints and challenging assumptions.
How many seats are available on the board each year?
The APRA Board consists of six publisher directors and six writer directors (one of which must be a New Zealand writer member).
The AMCOS Board consists of 12 directors. There is no defined split between writer and publisher members in the AMCOS constitution.
If a director resigns before the end of their term the Board (at its discretion) may appoint another full member to fill this role on a casual basis until the next AGM. If a casual vacancy exists in any given year, this seat will be up for election in addition to the usual number of vacancies created by the retiring directors.
Which directors can a member vote for?
In the APRA Board election, eligible writer members can only vote for those writer members who have nominated to stand in the election of directors (subject to the following conditions):
In the APRA Board election, eligible publisher members can only vote for the corporate representatives of those publisher members who have nominated to stand in the election of directors.
In the AMCOS Board election, eligible full members may vote for any nominated candidate they choose.
Who can nominate to become a director?
Any full writer member or the corporate representative of a publisher member may stand for election as a director, providing they are eligible to vote in the election and attend the AGM. This means that only full members who have earned royalties during either of the last two financial years are eligible to nominate to become a director.
Can writer members nominate themselves?
No, an eligible writer member can only be nominated by another full writer or publisher member in the prescribed form (i.e. the official nomination form available from the Company Secretary’s office).
Publisher members can nominate their corporate representative to stand as a candidate in the election of directors.
Who is eligible to vote?
Only full members who have earned royalties during either of the last two financial years are eligible to vote.
These earning requirements apply independently to both APRA and AMCOS. That means that if you're a member of both organisations but have only earned royalties from one company in the last two years, then you can only vote in the election for that company.
How do members vote?
In accordance with the APRA & AMCOS constitutions, all eligible members will be asked to cast their votes electronically through the secure login section of the website. Voting will close 7 days prior to the election. There's no voting on the day of the AGM.
A paper ballot will only be distributed to a member if they request this within 5 days of receiving their notice of meeting. All requests for paper ballots should be referred to [email protected].
If a member is nominated by someone without their knowledge do they have to stand for election?
No. If a member has been nominated to stand as a candidate in the election of directors they must accept the nomination before the cut off date in order to be included on the ballot.
How many votes does each member have?
The APRA and AMCOS Constitutions provide that every APRA or AMCOS member who has received any earnings at all over the previous two financial years is entitled to cast one vote in the relevant company’s Board elections and AGM. Members are then allocated one additional vote for every $2,500 “block” of earnings they have received over the last financial year. For example, if a member receives $5,000 in earnings during the previous financial year, they will be allocated 3 votes to use in that year’s Board elections and AGM (one vote for being an “earning member” plus 2 additional votes for the $5,000 in earnings they received).
Can a member vote for more than one candidate in the election?
Yes. Members who are eligible to vote in the election may choose to vote for one or more of the candidates in their respective category (i.e. writer candidates or publisher candidates).
Eg: if two writer member Directors are to be elected and seven full writer members have been nominated to stand as candidates, an eligible voting member can vote for a maximum of two of these candidates.
How long does a director serve on the board?
In accordance with the APRA and AMCOS constitutions, an eligible member can be elected to the Board for an initial term of three years. After this time they must retire, but if eligible they can nominate to be re-elected by the members for a subsequent term.