Artists will be billionaires, Mutua says after Uhuru signs Bill

Newly appointed Music Copyright Society of Kenya boss Ezekiel Mutua has lauded President Uhuru Kenyatta for signing into law the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2021.

The new law will see artists enjoy better royalties because it introduces a new formula in the sharing of revenues collected from ringback tunes.

Mutua expressed gratitude to the Head of State for appending his signature to the law that will see artists' income increase drastically.

Mutua was optimistic that the music industry will finally "be able to generate billionaires" after years of artists receiving peanuts.

"Thank you President Uhuru Kenyatta for the gift to Kenyan musicians. With the signing of the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2021 into law, a new revenue sharing formula tilted in favour of copyright owners comes into place," Mutua tweeted.

"I said there will be billionaires in this industry!" said the MCSK boss.

The new law dictates that artists get 52 per cent of the revenue collected on ringback tunes. The remaining 43 per cent will be shared between telecommunication operators and premium rate service providers.

"Section 30(c) of the new Copyright law provides as follows: premium rate service provider shall be entitled to 8.5 per cent, telecommunication operator 39.5 per cent, and the artist or owner of the copyright shall be entitled to not less than 52 per cent of the revenue," reads part of the statement.

The law is part of the government's efforts to safeguard the interests of musicians.