Kenya: Safaricom to host Kisumu IP event

The session will teach participants how to protect and earn from their intellectual property (IP). It will also include tips on how to increase revenue from Safaricom’s ring-back service Skiza.

Exhibitors will include Skiza content partners looking to increase the number of tunes on the service from the aforementioned regions. As such, artists are encouraged to bring their music to discuss existing or new agreements.

On the strength of Safaricom’s 29 million subscriber base, Skiza has established itself as a leading ring-back tune service in Kenya. It is reported to have paid out about 1.4bn Kenyan shillings ($14m) to artists since its inception.

Speakers at the 22 August event will include:

• Charles Kare Wanjohi, acting director, consumer business unit at Safaricom.
• Paul Julius Nunda, aka Jua Cali, recording artist on Skiza and co-founder of Ngomma VAS.
• Julius Kundu, senior manager of VAS, consumer products department, Safaricom.
• Gachui, founder and principal consultant at JGIP Consultants.
• Nani Mungai, senior partner at MMC Law Africa.
• Paul Kaindo, legal counsel at the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO).
• Steve Chege, director of corporate affairs at Safaricom.

The session, which will take place from 1pm to 5pm, will be moderated by Jalang’o.

“You can’t put your song on Skiza and expect a miracle, it takes effort," recording artist and Ngomma co-founder Jua Cali told music in Africa. "Artists need to market their songs with the same vigour that matatu [minibus] conductors hustle to get passengers. Competition is really stiff. There are many songs on Skiza so unless your brand stands out it will be hard to make any headway.

“Artists are typically ignorant about their rights but when you educate them it has a great impact on their earnings. My company, Ngomma, is a content aggregator and we work closely with Safaricom to ensure artists get paid for their content.”  

Over the years Skiza has been plagued by court battles and accused of taking an unfair percentage of revenue. However, the platform seems to have weathered the storm by continuously increasing artist’s earnings.