ROYALTIES are payments or a share of revenue that composers receive from record companies through the sales of their songs or albums.
“Unfortunately, since record sales are almost zero now. Nobody buys records, nobody buys CDs anymore. They download. And so, it’s hard to quantify those. So, I have not been receiving my checks from those recording companies,” Jose Mari Chan revealed in an interview published by PEP.ph.
“So I feel frustrated, but more so, I feel frustrated for the young singer-songwriters in this country. What kind of future can they look forward to? You know what I mean?” said the Father of Philippine Christmas Music.
The 81-year-old singer-songwriter admitted that he could no longer remember the last time he received royalty payments from record companies. However, he said he still earns royalties from streaming platforms.
Chan also shared that he has no plans to retire as long as people continue listening to his music.
“You know, God willing. Yeah, because music is God’s gift to me. And expressing my songs and giving joy to people, that’s my gift back to God,” he said.
His biggest hits date back to the 1960s and 1970s, including “Deep in My Heart,” “Can We Just Stop and Talk Awhile,” “Refrain,” “Constant Change,” “Please Be Careful with My Heart” and “Beautiful Girl,” as well as his timeless Christmas classics “Christmas in Our Hearts” and “A Perfect Christmas.” / TRC
