Most Kpop fans are familiar with the term “KOMCA”, but do they actually know the true meaning of this organization?
KOMCA (Korea Music Copyright Association) is a non-profit copyright collective for music works, which is responsible for administering public performance and broadcasting rights, as well as mechanical recording and reproduction rights in South Korea. Accordingly, KOMCA also compiles all credits of artists in musical works, and announces its list of junior and regular members.
The list of KOMCA regular members, who have the right to vote at the association’s general meeting, is decided annually, based on the amount of royalties earned in the past 3 years. As a result, fans of Kpop artists who participate in writing, composing, or producing, would hope for their idols to make it to KOMCA’s annual regular member list, and even consider this to be an honor.
On the other hand, KOMCA, was founded in 1964, and is the second collective rights management organization for musical works in Asia, following JASRAC (Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers).
In 1970, KOMCA became a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1979, and joined CISAC as an associate member in 1987, becoming a full member in 1995.
According to the official website of KOMCA, the association works “on behalf of its 30,000 member music creators”, and operates “on non-profit basis to license the public performance, and mechanical reproduction” of more than 3,700,000 works. It also distributes royalties accrued to the repertoire owned by its members to due right holders.
For Kpop fans, it is an honor to have their idols listed in KOMCA’s regular member list. Teddy, a famous producer for YG and THEBLACKLABEL artists, alongside G-Dragon, are among the first Kpop names to appear on said list. Meanwhile, other idols, such as BTS Suga, j-hope and RM (BTS), Woozi (SEVENTEEN), Hyunsik (BtoB), Seungyoon and Mino (WINNER), IU, Han, Bang Chan, and Changbin (Stray Kids), and so on, are also listed due to their massive number of credits.
Source: k14, KOMCA
