The Culture of Corruption: MCSK
In our previous issue we called to an end to industry monopolization. The people are fed up with the mass produced and poorly structured content that is being shoved down our throats. Because of the drivel we are being fed, it is difficult for a good artist to break through the morass, and even harder for them to remain in the spotlight after their initial fifteen minutes of fame are up. It’s not always that a band brings in a new brand of music and stays in the industry for long, but the amazing trio of Elani has managed to keep their artistic independence and creativity up and running since they burst onto the scene in 2008.
‘Elani’ means light in Giriama and the group, comprising of Muthoni Kunga, Wambui Ngugi and Bryan Chweya, are seeking to be a light to the world through their music and also to find internal light for themselves through their expression. Dominating both radio and TV stations with several of their hits in 2014, including KooKoo, Jana Usiku and Milele, everything seemed to be going great for them. Then, all went quiet. On 12 January 2016 the group released a YouTube video in which they explained their silence.
The artists claimed that they had only received Ksh 30,000 as royalties, and when they complained, were given 300,000 a few days later. They asked the Music Copyright Society of Kenya for a clear and transparent audit to explain the amount. Soon after the video was released, several artists took to social media to echo the same sentiments. Before we delve further into this, here’s alittle history lesson. The Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT) is a part of Strathmore Law School, and is an innovative Centre for evidencebased research and training in intellectual property (IP) and information technology (IT) law and policy. In a post on their website, Victor Nzomo sheds a little light on the history of collection societies in Kenya.
On February 20th 1984 a local newspaper published an article titled: “Musicians Complain of Royalties”, The Culture of Corruption: MCSK where it was reported that musicians who were members of the then Musicians Performing Rights Society of Kenya (MPRSK) had complained that the license fees collected on their behalf by MPRSK under a preexisting collaboration agreement with the Performers Rights Society (PRS) in London were not being paid out to MPRSK members.
On March 1st 1984, Mr. S.N. Ndemange, the then MCSK General Manager wrote a letter captioned “Royalty Payment” addressed to Mr. Habel Mwalumba Kifoto, one of the complaining musicians mentioned in the newspaper article, explaining that the functions of MPRSK
had since been taken over by MCSK, a duly registered company limited by guarantee incorporated a year prior in 1983, that would serve as the national society of composers, authors and publishers of musical works.
The MCSK has a mandate in place which requires them to monitor, collect and distribute the royalties of their registered members. But somehow since its inception, artists have complained time and time again that they are not getting their dues. Back in 2011, Robert Munkiri, former member of Kleptomaniax, complained about not being paid royalties by the Copyright Society, both as a solo musician and during his time as a member of the highly popular trio. Frasha
of P-Unit claims that, for their hit song Kare, P-Unit was given a check of a measly Ksh 250, even despite being named as one of the top played songs of that year.
The Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) has being given a stern talking to by the Kenyan government for paying artists less than a third of the money it collects on their behalf. Dominic Wabala, a reporter for the Star, shed some light on a very worrying fact. The MCSK boss, Maurice Okoth, is said to have appointed Nasratech as a Premium Rate Service Provider to licence and collect royalties from ring tones. The licence allows Nasratech to exploit the catalogue on any platforms as ringtones and ringback tones or any other tones required by a client. His wife Shamillah Kiptoo has controlling
shares at Nasratech.
The Kenya Copyright Board says “The MCSK has a mandate in place which requires them to monitor, collect and distribute the royalties of their registered members. But somehow since its inception, artists have complained time and time again that they are not getting their due. It has noted the ratio of royalties to expenditure from MCSK’s audited accounts amounts to 58.9 percent of collected revenue. Only 29.2 percent is left, or is spared, for royalties. The other 21.9 percent is used for other activities.
So how can this be a beneficial agreement to artists? These organisations, often (though not always) granted a monopoly in countries to collect and distribute money to musicians, all too often seem riddled with corrupt practices, sometimes to extreme levels. When there are factors such as nuptial nepotism and blatant corruption, you have to wonder why any artist would want to be associated with these people at all.
While they are often held out as being ‘good’ because they have a mandate to actually get money to artists, we’ve seen time and time again that their actions often do more to harm the market and
harm artists than to help them. Somehow, even though they are supposed to take a lion’s share, artists only get a tiny amount. If they had to lay bare where all the money was being chipped away, perhaps many of these societies would cease to have members. It is true that these wrangles with collection societies are nothing new.
Once they get the right to collect, they begin to abuse that power. That’s because once they’re given a right to demand payments, they continually look to expand that right: covering more areas and increasing the amount they can demand. Elani are definitely not the first to speak out. Many musicians have previously complained, but too many people reject what they say. Artists really need to be educated about what’s really going on, but we need to get them to stop listening to traditional industry wankers, and the other artists who parrot them.
Instead of artists taking to the media in a bid to belittle the efforts of those speaking out, they should band together and seek a way forward. If these royalty scandals have been going on ever since the inception of the society, then it is very unlikely that a change of management would be the end of all the problems. Artists should find an alternative business model that works for them and their best interests.
They cannot continue to rely on these vultures to provide them with a living in the creative arts. They do that for a few artists who can be used as puppets when they need to silence any dissenters, but they rip them off, too.
