JACAP Explained: How Jamaican and UK-Caribbean Songwriters Actually Get Paid

What is JACAP?

JACAP — the Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers — is the Jamaican performing rights organisation (PRO) responsible for licensing the public performance and broadcast of musical works and distributing the resulting royalties to its registered members. Founded in 1983, JACAP operates under the Jamaican Copyright Act and is the primary collection mechanism for performing rights income generated in Jamaica. If your compositions are played on Jamaican radio, broadcast on local television, streamed via Caribbean-facing digital services, or performed in licensed venues across the island, JACAP is the organisation collecting that royalty on your behalf — provided you are registered.

How JACAP differs from PRS for Music

The functional similarity between JACAP and PRS for Music is high — both license performances and distributions, both distribute royalties to registered members, and both participate in international reciprocal agreements. The critical difference is jurisdiction and membership base. PRS covers the United Kingdom and distributes to its members via international reciprocal networks. JACAP covers Jamaica specifically and distributes to its members via its own network of reciprocal agreements, which includes PRS. The practical consequence of this for a UK-based Jamaican artist is that PRS and JACAP cover different income. PRS covers UK performances and international income flowing into the UK via PRS reciprocal deals. JACAP covers Jamaican performances and distributes income generated in Jamaica. These are additive, not overlapping. A PRS member whose music is performed in Jamaica receives their JACAP-generated income via the reciprocal agreement between JACAP and PRS — but only if their works are correctly registered with PRS and the metadata is clean enough for JACAP to match the usage. Many UK-Caribbean artists miss this entirely.

What income JACAP collects

JACAP issues licences and collects royalties across the following categories of music use in Jamaica:

• Broadcasting: radio and television stations in Jamaica require JACAP licences. Commercial stations including RJR, ZIP FM, FAME FM, and the national broadcaster TVJ all operate under JACAP blanket licences.
• Public performance: hotels, clubs, bars, restaurants, dancehall venues, carnival events, and any establishment using music publicly pays a JACAP licence fee.
• Digital streaming: JACAP has licensing arrangements with digital services available in the Caribbean market.
• Sound system performance: Jamaica's sound system culture is a specific and historically significant performance context. JACAP licences apply to commercial sound system events.
• Background music services: Muzak-type services and commercial background music providers operating in Jamaica.

How JACAP pays songwriters

JACAP distributes royalties to registered members using a combination of broadcast logs (submitted by licensed radio and TV stations), venue returns, and event reporting. Like all PROs, JACAP's distribution accuracy depends on the quality of the usage reports it receives and the quality of the works registrations it can match against those reports. JACAP makes distributions to its members and, via reciprocal agreements, routes income to overseas societies for their members. PRS for Music is one of JACAP's reciprocal partners, meaning UK-registered PRS members can receive JACAP-sourced income through their PRS account — without needing to be a JACAP member directly. The caveat is that the works must be correctly registered and the metadata must be clean enough to enable the match.

How to register with JACAP

JACAP membership is open to any songwriter, composer, or music publisher whose works are performed in Jamaica. The registration process:

• Apply via JACAP's online portal at jacap.org. You will need to provide personal identification, a list of your works (title, co-authors, shares), and your PRO affiliations if any.
• Pay the membership fee — JACAP charges a modest annual membership fee, details on their website.
• Register each composition you want JACAP to collect for. As with all PROs, unregistered works cannot be collected.
• If you are already a PRS member, notify PRS of your JACAP registration so that your account reflects both affiliations and royalties route correctly.

JACAP vs PRS: what a UK-based Jamaican artist needs

The most common question from UK-Caribbean artists is whether they need both JACAP and PRS memberships. The answer depends on where your music is primarily performed. If your music is primarily performed in the UK and internationally, PRS membership and correct work registration covers the bulk of your income via reciprocal networks, including income from Jamaica routed back through the PRS-JACAP reciprocal. If your music has significant presence in Jamaica specifically — regular airplay, sound system usage, live venue performance — direct JACAP membership gives you better visibility of your Jamaican income and a more direct relationship for resolving disputes or gaps in reporting. Artists with audiences in both markets benefit from both memberships, and the administrative overhead of maintaining both is modest.

JACAP and the UK-Caribbean diaspora

London has one of the largest Jamaican diaspora communities in the world. Caribbean music — reggae, dancehall, bashment, roots, dub — is a major commercial and cultural force in UK cities, particularly in areas with established Caribbean communities: Brixton, Hackney, Tottenham, Handsworth, Chapeltown. The income from UK performances of Jamaican compositions flows through PRS, not JACAP. But the income from performances back in Jamaica, on Jamaican radio, in Jamaican venues, at Jamaican events, and on Caribbean streaming platforms — that income flows through JACAP. UK-Caribbean artists who have never registered with JACAP or ensured their PRS works registrations are clean enough to pass through the JACAP-PRS reciprocal are routinely missing the Caribbean portion of their royalty income.

JACAP and international collection beyond Jamaica

JACAP's reciprocal network extends beyond the UK via PRS. JACAP has agreements with a range of international societies, meaning income generated by JACAP members' works in other JACAP-affiliated territories flows back to the member's home society. For a Jamaican artist registered with JACAP, this means income from the US, UK, Europe, and other territories routes through JACAP to the member. For a UK artist registered with PRS, income from Jamaica routes through PRS. The system works — when works are registered correctly on both sides. The failure mode is almost always a registration gap or metadata mismatch, not a systemic failure of the reciprocal system.

What CGM does for Caribbean rights holders

Code Group Music administers publishing rights for artists with UK-Caribbean catalogues, covering both PRS registration and coordination with JACAP for Jamaican income. Our catalog assessment identifies whether your compositions are correctly registered at PRS, whether the metadata is clean enough to pass through the JACAP reciprocal, and whether any historical Jamaican income has accrued uncollected. Start at codegroupmusic.co.uk/#catalog-assessment.

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