Kenyan musicians call for review of royalty payments

Music artists allied to the Performers Rights Society of Kenya have called for a review of royalty payment structure that will ensure fair distribution of royalties.

This is in the wake of complaints by a section of artists over the latest general payment by the Music Copyrights Society of Kenya.

The artists have called for adoption pay per play structure to ensure performers get paid for their work.

The Kenya Copyright Board says the three Collective Management Organizations which collect royalties on behalf of artists namely the Music Copyrights Society of Kenya, Performers Rights Society of Kenya and Kenya Association of Music Producers have distributed a total of Ksh 80M out of Ksh 118M collected in the second quarter of the year.

The organisation came under attack from Kenyan artistes and their fans after it was discovered that they offered Sh2,500 each to its about 14,000 musicians as royalties.

Artists allied to PRISK however say the industry still lacks appropriate tools to monitor music airplay to back logs which are used in paying royalties as well as reviewing the current tariff structure to benefit members.

KECOBO which has backed MCSK says the latest payment represents 68% of royalties collected, a figure which is 2 percent lower than the  70% threshold required before renewal of Collective Management License.