Store brings music closer to fans

By Kiundu Waweru

Few local musicians make a living from their music. Those who do, make money not from selling albums but from performances and corporate contracts.

To make matters worse, unscrupulous individuals pirate music, adding to the artistes’ misery.

However, musician Juliani of the Mtaa Mentality fame is optimistic that technology can rescue exploited artistes.

"Piracy happens because the distribution system for local music is poor. If there was an easy way for people to buy the music at affordable prices, we could do away with piracy," he says.

Now a local company, Pewahewa.com, has launched a unique online music store that will stock local music of all genres including gospel, hip-hop, zilzopendwa, reggae and afro fusion.

The website is the first of its kind in the country and allows consumers to pay for music using mobile phone money transfer systems M-pesa and Zap.

easily accessible and affordable "We are an online music store that seeks to empower local musicians by making their music easily accessible and affordable," says David Kuria, business development manager, Pewahewa.com.

Kuria, a self confessed music lover who started collecting music at an early age, says he was touched by the plight of artistes who have been frustrated by lack of distribution mechanisms for their music and decided to come up with the online music store.

During the launch of the website, representatives from the Ministry of Information and the Music Copyright Society of Kenya expressed their support for the innovative forum and were impressed by the ability of technology to transform lives.

Artistes who wish to sell their music through Pewahewa.com will be able to track their sales in real time and establish how much money they have made.

"With the online store, our music can reach fans more easily as it will be accessible to more people. Fans in the Diaspora can keep up with the latest Kenyan music or buy zilizopendwa when they get nostalgic for their homeland," says Juliani.

Customers abroad can buy music using Visa, MasterCard and or Paypal.