By Hilary Kimuyu
Sauti Sol will take the highest amount of royalties – Sh400,000 – from the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) following an announcement by the society on Thursday.
MCSK said a total of Sh37,500,000 in royalties were collected during the period between July and December 2019.
From the amount, they said, Sh22.5 million (about 60 percent) will be distributed based on the amount of airplay received by the artistes.
The remaining Sh15 million, which is 40 percent of the total amount in royalties, will be designated for general distribution to all members.
The move by the MCSK to distribute royalties is a departure to the flat rate of Sh2,500 it distributed to artistes in royalties in mid-2019.
In his address to the nation in January, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed that all payments of royalties should be channeled through a single centrally-managed account at the Kenya Copyrights board, a move he said would increase the amount distributed from an average of Sh200 million p.a to Sh2 billion.
In a press conference on Thursday, MCSK Chairman Japheth Kasanga also said that all royalties collected from licensing Performances in Public Places (PPP) should be distributed twice a year, which is as from April 30 and October 31.
