Kenya: KECOBO urging artists to use its online portals

The two portals have been under development since May last year, a month after President Uhuru Kenyatta issued a directive that all royalties be paid through a single royalty distribution account owned by the three CMOs: the Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP), the Performers Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK) and the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK).

“The adoption of the portals has been lower than expected, so we are on a drive to gain more users by sensitising the public and the music industry’s biggest consumers to comply by paying the required tariffs,” KECOBO head of communications Cyrus Kinyungu told Music In Africa.

In December, KECOBO released several videos highlighting how to use the two portals. The NRR portal lets artists to upload their music works, view and manage their registered copyright works, and get their copyright registration certificates. It also allows for the filing of complaints about exclusion or unwarranted registration by other applicants, among other functionalities.

The digital royalty collection portal is a self-licensing and payment system linked to the National Transport and Safety Authority, Business Registration Services, and the Kenya Revenue Authority databases to make financial transactions easier. Users can pay by institutional cheque, bank transfer, Pesalink, EFT and mobile money (Mpesa). The portal can be accessed here or by dialling *553#. 

“The two portals have been in development since May, and the CMOs have jointly been using them,” Kinyungu said. “Although they are fully operational, we will continue to develop them to improve the user experience. The works in the NRR have been fingerprinted so that when the music is played by radio and TV stations, the system can monitor.”