Govt Reveals Millions Stolen from Otile Brown, Mali Safi Hitmaker & Other Artists

The Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) Board of Directors has revealed that the three licensed Music Collective Management Societies (CMOs) in the country failed to pay artists millions of shillings.

In a statement on February 21, KECOBO indicated that the three CMOs including the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP) and Performers Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK), were invited to a meeting to account for money collected in 2023.

The meeting highlighted disparities including that royalties were paid only from quarter one of 2023 collections.

Further, the board noted that all the Societies did not set aside royalties from collections in quarter two, three and four despite improved business environment.

If paid their right amount of royalties, the board indicated that Kenyan artists would have earned six times more than the amount they received in 2023. 

“As per the Copyright (CMO) Regulations, the CMOs ought to have distributed at least Ksh173 million or 70 per cent of that collection. This is clearly not the case here.

“A simple analysis of the amounts that would accrue to MCSK members were this revenue paid as the Copyright Regulations reveal that each artist could earn at least six times the amount paid during the year in royalties as illustrated below,” read the statement in part.

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Details Of How Much Artists Received VS How Much they Should Have Received

Artists that were affected by these disparities include Otile Brown who would have received Ksh720,000 instead of Ksh120,000, Rehema Lugose who would have received Ksh4,540,000 instead of Ksh757,092. 

Also, Reuben Kigame who received Ksh122,410 ought to have received 734,460, Marakwet Daughter (Millicent Jepkorir) commonly known as the Mali Safi hitmaker received Ksh108,123 instead of Ksh640,920, while the late John De Matthew received Ksh70,094 instead of Ksh420,000.

At the same time, the board detailed that Praise Makena received Ksh110,000 instead of Ksh660,000, Stephen Kasolo received Ksh106,862 instead of Ksh641,172 and Joseph Ngala received 101,032 instead of Ksh606,192.

Also Read: Itumbi & Ezekiel Mutua Clash Over Payment of Musicians

Details of Millions the Societies Presented from the Collections

From the information presented by the three CMOs, the board established that Ksh249,687,212.80 was collected jointly from January to December 2023.

However, KAMP and PRISK declared a collection of Ksh249 million, and they accounted for Ksh61 million and Ksh52.7 million, respectively,

On the other hand, MCSK declared receipts of Ksh109 million representing a shortfall of Ksh26 million. Cumulatively, MCSK declared total revenues of Ksh139,295,094 comprising of Public Performance (109 million) and Mechanical income (thirty million).

The KECOBO Board of Directors noted that royalties were paid only from quarter one of 2023 collections. All the Societies did not set aside royalties from collections in quarter two, three and four despite improved business environment.