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Aug 13, 2014

WOULD MOZART BE HAPPY WITH MCSK IN HIS UNMARKED GRAVE?

WOULD MOZART BE HAPPY WITH MCSK IN HIS UNMARKED GRAVE?


WOULD MOZART BE HAPPY WITH MCSK IN HIS UNMARKED GRAVE?

 Article by Stephen Omondi 
The day I was signing up for membership with MCSK in Kisumu, the attendant there gave me a copy of an article that explains the reasons behind the formation of Music copyright society of Kenya. In the article, the phrase that caught my attention was about Mozart.

True to the tune Mozart was a great pianist and composer who even after the loss of his hearing ability still wrote some the most used music in our days. It is claimed that the music he wrote after the tragic loss of his hearing were the best.

Years later after the death of Mozart, the MCSK (Music Copyright Society of Kenya), are basing their ground on Royalty collection on the fact that Mozart despite his fame died poor and was buried in unmarked grave.

The Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) claims that had there been a royalty collection agency during the days of Mozart, Mozart would have not died poor and his burial would have been more of a decent one than the one he was given.

They claim that at the time of his death, his music was widely used throughout America of which as a royalty collection agency, they would have made millions from the unexploited music industry of the time although the decision to share those millions with Mozart would solely depend on the board of directors decision and whether their office expenses did not exceed the total royalty revenue collected.

Outwardly and without careful observation of MCSK claims, I felt that this was it. As a famous musician as I would soon be, I need someone to put pressure on those people listening to my music in their business places to pay some fee as an appreciation to my intellectual art and creation and forgot to understand that the success of any music project depended solely on followers, that is the fan base.

While the idea of royalty collection seemed flawless at that time, it took me some time to understand why a group of individuals came together under legalized umbrella called MCSK. These individuals as they have made me understand them, are prepared to fight to the death to maintain right to act on behalf of musicians who some stricken with hunger and suffering still have guts to save the little cash they earn for their music projects.

With age and experience in the music field, It dawned on me sooner that as a writer, performer and producer, the most important thing that should happen to all of us above all is for our musical works to reach the desired audience in time.

Moreover to someone who writes and performs gospel songs it is my mandate to go into the world and preach the good news regardless of whether my audience is financially active or inactive. The good news I preach through my musical work will live beyond my life in this body but would I be happy to see some group of people who cared less about me while I was still alive run around in tinted flashy cars raiding businesses and homes demanding royalty payment from my fans as if my fans rented my album CDs?

Anyway how much should someone pay for listening to my music? Should after buying my album CD be subjected to pay for listening to it? Some music like the ones we write and sing are meant to revive weary souls and to refresh the mind so that people can become more fruitful to the society and to God.

Would Mozart be happy in his unmarked grave to see a registered group of people restricting the use of his work after going through thick and thin to bring out the melodic tunes in his heart and mind just because they have a piece of paper detailing that they are authorized to act lawlessly and immoral?

Definitely NO, and big is the NO.

I wouldn’t be happy either, whether in this body or out of this body because it is the word of the Great King that everyone should hear about him with or without perishable money.

Moreover singing brings true joy and happiness bundled with peace to my soul and that’s why I can endure the heat of the sun, the cold of the night and more or less the mockery of the oppressor just to make a few shillings that can get me to the studio.

All this joy and happiness is not complete if the people I’m communicating to do not have the peace of mind while listening my lyrical messages.

Moreover as a follower of Christ singing and praising is my way of sacrifice and not a means to wealthy living, though all this sounds like a heavy drum to the brains behind MCSK because they have been blinded by the blood money they continue to earn through violence from every one of us.

This form of violence is meted out against us in a manner hard to detect from the look of things but the following information should suffice to expose this form of spiritual wickedness.

First and foremost any musician who has signed up with MCSK loses the right to act on self. This means that MCSK can sell your right of ownership to anyone in their wish list whether you are alive or dead.

How does this happen you ask? Good question.

I am a living testimony…….

After submitting my application for membership with MCSK in 2006 things got rather hard. In 2009 while on a rare Google search, I hit several pages from different major music outlets on the net with my music on their shelves. These included Yahoo, Amazon, iTunes etc, you name it.

At one time I had to buy my own music for R7 per track from a South African company from the internet to prove that I wasn’t dreaming.

After this I tried to make calls to the MCSK head office to find out what was happening but every time my call was picked by a lady who always put me on hold asking me to wait so that she could inform the manager that someone is on the line.

Delaying tactics………………..huh?

I had to give up and wait for another opportunity.

Around the same time I shot an amateur video on one of my songs, keep on moving under a fake name and uploaded it on YouTube. Several weeks later I got a message from YouTube claiming that a certain company is laying claim on the audio.

Embarrassing! Isn’t it? Yes, but nay this was a major breakthrough in the investigation we were conducting since we had reliable information that my one and only album of six tracks was sold to a white woman at a price of 6,000 US Dollars about KES540, 000.

Who sold it you ask?

Well, the information MCSK collects from its members is overwhelming. During our sign up we were subjected to reveal even the instruments we used.

Now with a copy of your national ID and your signature, what else can you expect?

Another thing to put into consideration was that all the songs that belonged to MCSK members are tagged with Music Copyright Society of Kenya as a record label (Record label is a technical word that means that Music Copyright Society of Kenya owned the music and the musician).

How did MCSK come to own me and my music? Did it contribute a cent or a phrase or even a slight idea to my music project? Nay, but as we have established, royalty collection is just a means to lure and collect important information from unsuspecting artists, then use the collected information during auction.

The recent shaking in the MCSK pointed us to another clue that an external force is at work. This could as we are about to establish be a very strong and rich person or family with either political and religious interest or a group of people with the same interest of the former.

How did you come to know all this? You ask.

Well, time has a way of making dead things stink. If MCSK as a society was founded on lure, rob and silence foundation then it is a dead organ and Kenyans and Musicians should be ready to bear the stench if it is not buried sooner.

We know that God has enemies as it is written in the book of Psalms chapter 2.

“Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us”.

We also understand that there are few Christ followers and true God worshippers in this nation. Many are attached to Christian faith for spying for the devil and self gain and will do the devils biddings at any given opportunity.

When we are violently robbed off of what is rightfully ours as Christians we come to the knowledge that truly we belong to Christ. As it is written in book of Revelation chapter 12

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”.

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