how mcsk officials trick musicians

How MCSK officials trick musicians

The testimony of a member of MCSK

First and foremost i want to bring your attention to my experience during the process of Attaining membership registration with music copyright society of Kenya (mcsk). Music copyright society of Kenya (mcsk) is a legal body with mandate to collect and distribute royalties to Music creators of Kenya. These are the composers of the music you hear daily in your local fm radios, national television stations and so on.

It was back in 2005 after my first recording when i thought of an organization that could help me safeguard and protect My creations and give me a sense of social belonging as I continue with the work of creating more and more music.

After some enquiries I was informed by a friend that there is a body resembling the description with its office at the Kenya national assurance 4th floor. The next day I made haste to above address inwardly rejoicing that truly God leveled the ground for me.

it is good to note that back in 2005 music copyright society of Kenya (mcsk) had less than 700 members countrywide and had not began paying royalties To its members and annual spending on the running of office exceeded the annual collection. A good example is the 2003/2004 balance sheet that showed that music copyright society of kenya (mcsk) collected about 70 million in royalty and other collectable fees And used slightly above the figure to run it's office leaving artists with nothing to share but a deficit.

As I mentioned before i was happy and the name music copyright society of Kenya (mcsk) made me happier and hopeful that me and my music will be in safe hands, safe hands because the history of music creation world has never been so favorable to the music makers themselves and the story of people like Mozart bear me witness.

As I rushed through the busy streets of kisumu from my residence in obunga slums (it has only been few days between 3 to 5 days since I collected my master cd from the studio) to the central business district I felt a sense of security about the whole matter of becoming a member of music copyright society of Kenya (MCSK). The dream of almost every musician if I’m not wrong is to be recognized. It had been along struggle to reach this day and I hoped for a slight light to beam in my world of darkness and bring about a financial revolution. For 3 years I have been operating a boda boda business (bicycle mode of transport) to raise money enough to see me through the recording.

It’s around 10 am and today I haven’t carried any customer. The street seems normal as usual as hooting from PSVs and the shouts” kondele-manyatta” dominate the scene. There are customers calling from either sides requiring boda boda service but I kept going paddling at a slower pace to enable me gather my thoughts together.

After few minutes I paddle into the main road (Kakamega Rd that connects to Jomo Kenyatta highway) which one white woman (a missionary at a local church) asked me not to use when ferrying her to town center saying that she doesn’t like using that “Crazy road”.

And now that I am through with the recording a feeling of insecurity is crippling in my mind of what shall become of my music because even to my neighbors I’m not known to posses such gift of singing.

The history of Musicians in Kenya has never been that good not only because of lack of financial support but also because of the people who might want to exploit their music in their absence with forged documents. These people as per my view and my experience were the people with monetary strength and knowledge on intellectual property and copyright issues. They also have access to music market already affected with high demand for music.

The lot I mentioned in the preceding paragraph (I presumed later) made It hell for people talented with ability to create music. As a tradition in the world we are living in, high sales in album record is experienced when an artist dies and this as per my view again worked opposite for these talented guys while crediting scammers I mentioned before with power in their operations.



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