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Gambling for the pie in Kenya's music industry

sauti sol

Even though it is his new jam Butterfly, that is creating a buzz across the region, Nameless has enjoyed a successful season in showbiz since the timely release of his hit single African Beauty, in January this year.

Together with P Unit’s You Guy (featuring Collo), Jaguar’s Kioo, Sauti Sol’s Money Maker and Gloria Muliro and Willy Paul’s Sitolia, African Beauty has managed to dominate radio charts this year, emerging as one of the top 20 most played songs of 2014.

According to statistics obtained by Pulse this week, also in the top 20 of the most radio played songs of 2014 is Amileena’s Why, Sarah K’s Liseme, Mfalme wa Mapenzi by Kidum as well as Kamua Leo and Fimbo ya Pili, two Grandpa Records productions that are very popular across the country.

Others are Kwata Kawaya by Victor Mbuvi, Matapeli by Jaguar, Mateke by Size 8, Sauti Sol’s Still the One, Skamaress by Madtraxx and Mungu Baba by Rufftone among others.

The revelations were made by the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) through their monitoring platform that also reveals that on average, Kenyan radio stations play 80 songs every day, 99 per cent being local productions.

Even though local stations have been playing some foreign music from musicians such as Tanzania’s Diamond and American stars such as Rihanna, Beyonce, Chris Brown and Ne Yo, as well as dancehall stars Alaine, Busy Signal and Konshens, contrary to common belief, Kenyan music lovers are now embracing their own and promoting local artistes whose music is slowly making inroads across the continent.

The music industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the country and it is making some serious cash for the Treasury. Even though only a few are highlighted by the media, currently Kenya has over 15,000 musicians, 9,196 of whom are currently registered with MCSK.

“You will be shocked to learn how artistes are fiercely jostling for the space as Kenyan music lovers start embracing local music, especially music released by the Pulse generation of urban stars. Artistes are coming up day-in-day-out and at least five songs are released everyday,” MCSK CEO, Maurice Okoth, reveals.

One would wonder where the estimated 1,800 releases a year end up, with only a few songs and artistes dominating the charts and other music consumption venues. Besides, how many Kenyan celebs do you know? Definitely not 15,000.

According to MCSK records obtained by Pulse, there are over 90,000 songs captured on the organisation’s monitoring platform of which 60 per cent are owned by local musicians, slightly above the percentage receiving active media play. Pulse has also established that every month, about 40 new artistes join the fray but most of them are derailed, not because they are not talented enough, but mostly because of the competitive and complex nature that is the local showbiz industry. Besides, there are showbiz cartels that make it hard for lone rangers to get noticed, unless you are a modern day Michael Jackson.

“It is rather hard to break through in this music industry. It took me over five years to get a hit song playing on radio stations and that means all this time I wasn’t making good money off music as very few knew me. I rarely played at concerts. Such is the predicament of upcoming Kenyan singers,” says Mombasa-born star Kidis, he of the popular Kamua Leo fame.

“Many upcoming artistes can’t afford a management team to help them package themselves, something so key for success, and worse still, when they try to approach some of the main players in the game, they are hardly given an ear,” remarks Kenzo, a former Ogopa Deejays artiste who is yet to get a major music break since he made his debut on the music scene about eight years ago.

The music production industry is thriving with audio music producers charging up to Sh150,000 to record a single track while on average an artiste burns Sh500,000 to record a video. It is no wonder that to tap into the high demand, producers are coming up with new recording studios everyday with Nairobi now being home to over 50 established studios, 20 of which are said to be very active.

You would be shocked to learn it costs up to Sh10,000 for an artiste to book studio time. Bookings are made for two and a half hour sessions.

“For many, even getting that audio track out is a real strain as most of these guys don’t have a steady income to sustain them. One has to hold on to the hope that once they release their song, they will get shows and manage to recover their money, otherwise if that backfires, that could simply mean the end for them,” sympathises Size 8, the gospel star who made a successful switch from secular to gospel, after years of strain in the secular industry.

“The life of an artiste can be real complex. One year, you make a hit and everyone embraces you as you make good money out of concerts and radio play. The next thing, you have no hit and everyone forgets about you. You strain to make a comeback only to discover that the space you used to occupy has been taken over by another. Very few Kenyan artistes have staying power. You just can’t slow down in an industry so unpredictable. You have to remain visible,” advises Jaguar who happens to be the highest paid artiste this year.

“The secret is never giving up. The journey to the top may be tough but once there, the fruits are sweet,” says Gloria Muliro who is now minting millions from her gospel singing career. With the music industry now heading in the right direction, most of the established local acts such as Jaguar, P Unit, Sauti Sol, Nonini, DNA, Gloria Muliro, Ken wa Maria, Sarah K, Wyre, Nameless, Wahu, Octopizzo and Mbuvi are packaging themselves as regional stars and laughing all the way to the bank, most making millions as they charge up to Sh300,000 for a single international concert.

And that is not the only revenue source the artistes are banking on. Endorsements, ring back tones and guest appearances are proving lucrative, on top of the music royalty payments collected by MCSK that stood at Sh360 million in the last financial year.

“We collected over Sh360 million in the last financial year, on behalf of our members. This amount is on an upward scale compared to previous years and that means artistes are now making good returns from their intellectual property,” affirms Maurice.

And he adds: “The music industry is said to be worth billions of shillings with the digital platform now working to save the sector. The Government is also making good tax from entertainment related enterprises. Over Sh1.4 million was paid out as taxes during the last financial year.”

 

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