For the better part of last week, Kenyan musicians were breathing fire on social media after being paid 'peanuts' by music copyright bodies such as MCSK and PRISK.
Some of the notable musicians who took to social media to complain over their dues include Khaligraph Jones, King Kaka, Timmy Tdat and Fena Gitu who were all paid Sh2,500 as accumulated royalties for a whole year.
Apparently, the musicians have faced the same predicaments since way back during the reign of former MCSK officials led by Maurice Okoth who later resigned.
Their pleas and cries have never been heard until now. The musicians are partly to be blamed for their predicaments.
Here is why they will continue being paid peanuts;
1. They have no unity/a united front to agitate for their rights
The level of unity among Kenyan musicians is way below average. They have no unified front to mount pressure on the necessary bodies tasked with collecting royalties on their behalf. For instance, during the recent online argument about the royalties released, while some musicians were castigating MCSK, some musicians like Juliani and Octopizzo defended the copyright bodies. This clearly shows the weakness of our musicians, thus the copyright bodies take advantage knowing that some artistes will still come to their defence.
2. They lack a genuine representative in the copyright bodies
The musicians have no proper representative to speak on their behalf while having meetings with the relevant bodies. If they could get a strong and fearless leader to represent them, then underpayment will be a thing of the past.