Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) Chief Executive Officer Ezekiel Mutua was forced to defend himself on Monday after he was accused by an artist of not paying him millions.
The artist based in Western Kenya remarked that he had the most popular song from his region but he was yet to receive any payment.
While insisting that he was MCSK registered, the artist questioned why other artists are paid millions while he consistently fails to receive any royalties for his creative work.
“I do cultural contemporary music. I have a popular hit song Rhoda with 2 million views on TikTok challenge plays,” he lamented during an interview on Citizen TV.
“I have not received a single cent yet the song is the most trending in the Western region.”
He added that producing the song had cost him upwards of Ksh300,000 with no foreseeable return on investment.
Mutua in response asked to be furnished with the artist's MCSK registration number to confirm if what the artist was saying on national television was true.
Additionally, Mutua noted that it was premature to complain about not receiving any cash at a time when the process was still ongoing.
“We put a notice in newspapers on January 19 dictating how we will pay royalties. The process is expected to run between January 25 to March 29,” he explained.
The CEO after receiving the artist's MCSK number promptly contacted his office to know how much the artist was supposed to be paid.
“I have been told the Rhoda song is not updated in your MCSK catalogue and as such we cannot make payments,” he was told.
Mutua told the young man that he had only 5 songs updated in his catalogue. The Chief Executive advised him to update his catalogue to enable him to receive future payments.
Further, the artist was advised that MCSK does not pay for songs played on TikTok and other social media platforms.
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