The Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights (ECCO) Inc. has announced its second major royalty distribution for 2025, with a total of $1.3 million XCD set to reach creators’ bank accounts on December 4th, 2025. The payout covers royalties earned from the use of music across the Eastern Caribbean during 2024.
This latest disbursement follows ECCO’s June 2025 distribution of over $1 million for the 2023 period, pushing the organisation’s total payouts for the year well above the $2 million mark. ECCO says the strong figures, despite ongoing regional challenges, reflect both the resilience of the OECS music sector and improvements in local data collection from live events.
According to ECCO, 52% of this distribution will remain with creators across the OECS, while 48% will go to international rights holders through affiliated global societies. CEO Martin A. James said this majority share for regional artists demonstrates the strength of the local music industry and ECCO’s commitment to ensuring creators are fairly compensated.
However, ECCO warns that unregistered musical works continue to be a major barrier to even larger payouts. Many songs used across the region remain unregistered in ECCO’s database, making it impossible to match royalties to their rightful creators. These unclaimed royalties are held for three years before being redistributed to registered members with documented usage.
Revenue for the distribution was generated from licensing agreements with television and radio broadcasters, hotels, restaurants, bars, festivals, concert promoters, and other music users across ECCO’s six operating territories.
ECCO’s Board Chairman, Bruno Leonce, said the organisation’s achievements this year show what can happen when creators’ rights are respected, even in an environment marked by non-compliance and weak enforcement of intellectual property laws. He noted that the region has far greater potential if broadcasters, venues, and other businesses fully comply with copyright requirements.
Despite legislative inconsistencies and limited enforcement resources, ECCO says its collections and distributions continue on an upward trajectory, signaling the untapped economic power of the orange economy and the growing value of regional creative output.
ECCO, established in 2009, continues to play a central role in the OECS music landscape by connecting regional creators to the global music rights management system. The organisation expressed gratitude to its members and partners and reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that music from the region is valued, protected, and properly paid for both at home and abroad.
