Kenya CMOs vetting starts next week

This was announced by KECOBO head Edward Sigei during a public participation forum at the NHIF Building in Nairobi on Tuesday.

Sigei said the board would issue licences in accordance with the law and regulatory provisions.

“All the CMOs represented here today have applied for licences for royalty collection for the coming year,” he said. “As much as we shall consider your pleas to reinstate your favourite CMO, they must conform to provided rules and regulations and meet the recommended thresholds.”

The CMOs that have submitted applications for a licence to collect music royalties in 2019 include the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), the Music Publishers Association of Kenya (MPAKE), the Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP), the National Music Copyright Society (NMCS), the Performers Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK), and a newcomer called Collective Management Services.

A heated debate ensued during the forum where a section of musicians demanded that KECOBO reinstate the MCSK as the sole collector of royalties. The MCSK loyalists argued that the industry regulator had imposed MPAKE on them.

“We will not sit back and let KECOBO make uninformed decisions while we suffer the consequences of their decisions,” musician and producer Saitoti said.

“Yes there may have been challenges at the MCSK but those would have been solved and individuals found culpable dealt with, but it is unfair to punish 15 000 artists for one person’s mistakes.”

Also in attendance was the director of the Permanent Presidential Music Commission (PPMC), Donald Otoyo, who requested CMOs to fix their affairs so that KECOBO would not be used as a punching bag in the future.

"We have been in this industry for a long time, we know what happens within these CMOs, we know which people are ‘eating’ money meant for artists," Otoyo, who also sits on the KECOBO board, said. "We want to urge you to put your houses in order so that as a board we can issue licences to organisations that have the artists' welfare at heart.”

KECOBO's move to call for fresh applications comes after a court ruling nullified MPAKE’s 2017 licence. MPAKE recently distributed 1.3 million Kenyan shillings ($13 000) in royalties for the 1 November-31 December 2017 period.