Kenyan musician Vivian attracted backlash for approaching TikTok star Azziad Nasenya to promote her song for free.
In an Instagram live interview, the accelerator hitmaker noted that she reached out to the influencer to post her new song Simpo Simpo featuring Stivo Simple Boy.
"We asked her if she can share my new song and she asked to be paid. That really suprised me. She is new in the industry," the artiste stated.
Her sentiments attracted backlash on social media with a number of Kenyans accusing the musician of not appreciating the value of the digital influencer.
In a video retweeted over 300 times with more than 500 replies, many were of the opinion that the musician erred in her demands.
"What is wrong with Kenyans and respecting other people's hustle, you want people to create content and promote you for free?" one user Moran stated.
"This ‘new to the game’ phrase is trash. Azziad go get your bag elsewhere," another user Valarie advised.
Others noted that the artist had paid for other services including the dancers and the videographer in making the video and the same should have been applied in marketing the video.
"If she was able to pay for the studio session and for the video, it’s only fair she pays Azziad too," another Twitter user observed.
Here are some of the reactions:
A similar conversation was ignited when Azziad went viral with Femi One's song Utawezana. Whereas a number of people argued that the influencer had made the song more poluar with her video, the artist stated that the song was good on its own.
Azziad has quickly become one of the country's most popular figures with hundreds of thousands of followers across platforms including Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Recently her rate card revealed that the content creator charges up to Ksh100,000 per post on platforms including Tiktok and Instagram, a figure that had a section of Kenyans in awe.
Kenyans.co.ke in-house Digital Media expert Brian Muuo explained that it was standard practice for influencers to ask for payment upfront.
"The influencers are paid to promote and it is standard practice to pay upfront before the work commences depending on the agreement between the company and influencer.
"On whether the promotion translates to purchases, that responsibility does not fall on the influencer unless it was specifically agreed upon by both parties," he noted.
Muuo added that brands derived alot of value from influencers explaining that pricing for influencers was determined first and foremost by key metrics including followers, subscribers, views on videos, user engagement and user feedback.
"Advertisers are willing to work with influencers but they must also be sure of a return on their investment," he observed.
