SOMA
One of two Tanzanian bodies registered to collect the country's blank-tape levy.
- Based in
- Tanzania
SOMA (Society of Music Advocacy) is one of two collective management organisations registered in Tanzania to collect and distribute the country’s blank-tape levy, alongside the Tanzania Reproduction Rights Society. Both were established after Tanzania’s 2022 Copyright Act stripped the Copyright Society of Tanzania (COSOTA) of its dual regulator-and-collector role, leaving COSOTA as regulator only.
The blank-tape levy, also called Private Copying Remuneration, is a small fee charged on imported blank media and recording devices such as memory cards, smartphones and flash disks, intended to compensate artists, authors and producers for private copying. Tanzania’s government, through the Tanzania Revenue Authority, began distributing collected funds via SOMA and its counterpart, with a first tranche of roughly $0.58 million reported. The levy is kept separate from public-performance and broadcast royalties.
No website has been found for SOMA; it is documented here from East African trade press covering the levy’s rollout.
