Should Sauti Sol lead Kenyan artists in exiting MCSK?
Sauti Sol are an angry boy band and they have every right to be miffed. One of their members, Bien Aime recently revealed that he was paid a whopping 14,000 Kenya shillings by the government body meant to collect and pay them their royalties: MCSK.
For anyone who knows anything, Bien has been one of the most played artists in Kenya ergo he should have earned more money. Lots more. But he has been paid a meagre amount because most of the artists money goes to maintaining MCSK. That is insane.
Taking to Twitter, Sauti Sol released a statement that read:
Why does MCSK always act like they are doing Kenyan musicians a favour? Let’s get a few things clear! 1. The royalties collected are NOT their direct income but the yours. They are working for you! 2. They are supposed to distribute nothing less than 70% of all royalties collected to the members and provide credible statements of account to that effect. 3. They can NOT operate without a license. So the question is, do they have a license from KECOBO or not? 4. We are going to withdraw our membership from the society as it does not serve our best interests entirely. All disgruntled members who wish to do the same, the time is now! Please reach out. Take back your power!
But I am left wondering 2 things: the first being whether or not Sauti Sol will manage to convince any Kenyan artists who are often a cowardly, self serving bunch and the second being whether this is a step in the right direction. What do you think? Should Sauti Sol rescind their membership to MCSK?
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