Over the years, Kenyan artistes have been receiving peanuts in the name of royalties from Music Copyright Society of Kenya and other agencies responsible for collecting money on their behalf.
Artistes have, perennially, complained about how much they receive from the government as royalties for the use of their copyrighted works.
Other industry players like disc jockeys (DJs) who form the whole ecosystem that feeds the royalties scheme have always felt left out of this whole discussion.
Before, there were no permits required for DJs to play music, but they are introducing these new charges without proper consultation.
We, as DJs, need a body that will represent us at the decision-making table.
Unfortunately, without such an organisation, there is no clear communication between those in charge of collecting royalties and the DJs.
There is a big disconnect between industry players and those in charge of collecting royalties, which is unfortunate. Therefore, we need to have a discussion and iron out these gaps.
I don’t think people have an issue with paying for a system that is working. Where does the MCSK money go?
The top-tier artistes are paid peanuts but all industry players are paying for licenses.
How would I pay a whole Sh30,000 when there is no accountability in the first place?
Currently, it’s more of individuals looking to make themselves richer instead of helping the industry.
We also want a connection between the people in the office and the people on the ground because currently there is none.
We need clarity when it comes to the money the bodies are collecting on behalf of artistes because I’m very sure people will not mind those who are at the top being paid well.
For example, the biggest challenge we go through as DJs is Nema and they come through MCSK.
They harass us, and I was once arrested by Nema and slept in a police cell for three days for playing music and the club is not even mine.
All we are saying is, let's sit down and have conversations and see how to build our industry and put charges that make sense.
Disc jockey spoke to the Star
