The battle for MCSK's millions heats up, mistrust level hits an all-time high

On Tuesday last week, a group of hip-hop artistes met in town to register themselves as members of MSCK so that they can participate in the upcoming elections that will be held on April 21.

The registration was organised by one Jared Getanda, whom the hip-hop community has put their hopes in. The MCSK employee of over 14 years is vying for the coveted Nairobi Director’s position, which is also being eyed by artistes Frasha and Lady Bee. Nairobi region is the centre of attraction.

“We decided to vote in someone who is not an artiste and we settled on Jared,” said Smallz Lethal, the firebrand artiste who led a demonstration against Mdundo late last year.

“We do not want artistes to lead others. There has been a cartel of artistes who favour their own and we want to stop that. It is ironic that we’ve had artistes as directors and committee members with not much changing for the music fraternity.”

The 2015 election has elicited much interest from artistes, with some complaining about the distribution of royalties, how the body is run and how to them, no one in the management looks into artistes’ affairs. Couple this with the constant battle between artistes on one side and DJs and stations on the other, and it will be an election that will be decided amidst a lot of anger.

“Like any organisation that is involved with the distribution of money, it is human nature to have complaints from some of the beneficiaries,” says Maurice Okoth, the CEO of MCSK.

Maurice notes that everything they do is audited by a committee on which artistes are represented and they post everything openly in the public domain. He says that how they collect the money and the method of distribution is open for public scrutiny. “These artistes are just thankless,” he adds.

That artistes have always raised one issue or another with accountability is not refuted by Maurice, who points out that only a small minority have issues.

“If you look closely, it is mostly the influential artistes who complain because they know the media will pick the complaints up,” he notes.

Abbas, one of the most popular rappers in the country was bold with his social media posts in relation to MCSK. According to Abbas, there is no way his hit Tokelezea was just played 10 times in a whole year.

“IAre those the royalties they are supposed to pay a king?” he asked.

Habida also caused a furore over MCSK and its representation, and Ringtone famously led a rant on a TV station, before the story turned on him. Some artistes have also pointed out errors, where they claim to have been paid royalties for songs that were not even theirs!

“The biggest problem with MCSK all through the years has been transparency especially when it comes to money matters,” insists Smallz, who however, admits that they have done some changes and the new digitised system is better.

Right now, a registered member can log in and monitor airplay and the amount they are to be paid. This is a great move that may finally allay favouritism claims aimed at MCSK. With the previous system, it was the prerogative of MSCK to determine how much an artiste earned, since they (artistes) had no means to check when and where their song was played.

“The fact that we have by far the most members than any other royalty body speaks a lot. I will tell you for a fact that all the complaints made by artistes are just out there in the public, since no one has submitted a formal complaint to us. We have the logs and correspondence that we have with each artiste and they know that,” charges Maurice.

Until recent years, MCSK, which was established in 1983, has been used as a cash cow for many previous office holders. With no monitoring systems and with artistes generally unaware of their rights, a number of people made money through the organization.

With MCSK distributing over Sh30 million yearly, there has been a lot of interest from parties, with more and more artistes registering with the body. The over 70 radio and TV stations, thousands of clubs and pubs and the bulging public transport industry have also ensured a generous income for many.

“So far the outgoing MCSK office bearers have played their role and we appreciate. But now it is time for fresh leadership ideas and that can only come from younger leadership,” Frasha says.

“I thank God for giving me this opportunity to fight for the industry and I am asking my fellow artistes to come out in large numbers on D-day,” Lady B quickly adds.

Part of the distrust between MCSK and the artistes is down to what may seem as gaffes. Last year, during the MCSK Gala, Tanzanian sensation Diamond was invited and before it was made clear that his invitation was related to royalties owed to him, local artistes were already up in arms. They questioned the choice of an expensive, foreign artiste to entertain when there were hundreds of local artistes who could do the same.

“Part of the problem is that some artistes are ignorant. They do not know what we (MSCK) do and complain without facts,” says Maurice.

“We are collecting more money than in previous years and the sooner they realise it is actually their money, the sooner they will benefit,” he concludes.