• The CS added that copyright fees and royalties will be paid through the e-Citizen platform, just like all other state services.
• He noted that once the Act is enacted, Kenyan artists will be registered and will have individual accounts.
Image: MOSES KURIA/X
Public Service CS Moses Kuria has disclosed that the Kenya Kwanza administration is working on setting up a state-run Collective Management Organisation (CMO) which will collect royalties on behalf of Kenyan musicians.
Speaking on Sunday, Kuria said the state is currently working on amendments to the Copyright Act to allow the creation of the CMO.
The CS added that copyright fees and royalties will be paid through the e-Citizen platform, just like all other state services.
He noted that once the Act is enacted, Kenyan artists will be registered and will have individual accounts where they can also track how much money is collected by the CMO.
"The government is spearheading amendments to the Copyright Act to create a government run Collective Management Organisation. All music, copyrights and royalties will be paid through E-Citizen.
"Our artists will be individually registered. They can view online how much money is collected. Siku 40 za wezi wa jasho ya artists zimeisha," Kuria said on X.
CMOs act as intermediaries between copyright holders and users. They manage the licensing of works to users, collect the payments, and pass them on to the copyright holders.
Some of the active CMOs in Kenya include; Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), Music Publishers Association of Kenya (MPAKE), Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP), The Reproduction Rights Society of Kenya (KOPIKEN) and Performance Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK).
While these CMOs perform different roles, they have over the years come under criticism for allegedly misappropriating funds belonging to artists.
This is a result of the amounts paid to the artists despite their songs coming hits and getting massive airplay.
However, according to MCSK chief executive Ezekiel Mutua, low payment is because the artists in most instances do not update their music catalogs with the society.
"Some of the popular musicians in Kenya have not updated their works with MCSK. We have members with very many great songs, but they only submitted one or two songs. Members need to ensure all their works are submitted, otherwise we end up with a situation where a popular musician earns much less than others because they have not updated their records with us," Mutua explained.
"For artists to gain from their artistic and dramatic works, they must begin to pay attention to detail. Music is serious business and we must treat it as such."
In January, MCSK announced that it would distribute a Sh20 million payout to over 16,000 artists.