Music copyright society warranted Azimio rights to use Sauti Sol's 'Extravaganza'

Sautisol band and Azimio LA Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party's standoff has been on Netizens lips after the  former threatened to sue the political movement.

On their Instagram page, Sauti Sol threatened to sue Azimio for using their song 'Extravaganza' as a soundtrack while announcing the post of the running mate.

 Through a statement shared on their social media pages, the famous Afro-pop music band claimed they did not warrant the use of their song.

“We did not license this song to the Azimio la Umoja campaign neither did we give any consents for its use in the announcement of their vice-presidential candidate,” the band’s statement read.

The commotion has elicited mixed reactions from Netizens with a number unsubscribing from the band's YouTube channel.

According to Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) Ezekiel Mutua, the political movement was licensed to use Sautisol's 'Extravaganza'.

"We licensed the Raila Odinga Presidential campaign using the existing tariffs gazetted by the government. Our members including Sautisol have assigned their rights to MCSK to administer their copyright on their behalf. MCSK wishes to clarify that the license issued covers both performing, mechanical rights and synchronization. We thank the Raila Odinga Presidential campaign team for complying with the copyright law and urge others to pay.

The former KFCB boss shared the joint Copyright and Related Rights License as proof that the political movement paid a fee of more than half a million Kenya shillings. Dr. Ezekiel captioned the post with a long statement on his Instagram page.

Part of the post read, “Sauti Sol have assigned to us not only the performing rights but also mechanical rights that include synchronization for decades and KENCOBO knows that”.