Award-winning Kenyan singer Nikita Kering has taken the plight of musicians in Kenya to the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, over the unfair compensation practices from digital platforms.
The singer’s mission to AU was to highlight the unfair compensation practices by Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) and digital platforms, and to advocate for stronger protection of intellectual property rights across the continent.
Nikita, known for her soulful voice and impactful lyrics, used her platform at the AU to shed light on the longstanding struggles Kenyan artists face in securing fair remuneration for their creative work.
“Today, I represent Kenyan artists at the African Union HQ to address the unfair pay from CMOs and digital platforms and to push for stronger AU support in protecting our intellectual property,” she said in a statement.
The singer’s appearance marked a significant step in elevating the conversation around artistic rights from a national to a continental agenda, calling on African leaders to take tangible action to reform how artists are rewarded for their work.
Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) are bodies mandated to collect royalties on behalf of artists, authors, performers, and producers whenever their work is used.
In Kenya, notable CMOs include the Performance Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK), the Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP), and the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK).
These organisations are supposed to ensure that creators receive fair compensation when their music is played on radio, TV, at public events, or streamed online.
However, these institutions have been mired in controversy, with numerous artists accusing them of mismanagement, lack of transparency, and underpayment.
Audits and reports over the years have highlighted irregularities in how royalties are distributed, with some musicians receiving as little as KSh 2 in a payout cycle.
“You know, we’re barely earning from these CMOs, what we call Music Corporate Society of Kenya, we have PRISC, ETC. We’re not earning from those platforms,” Nikita lamented.
She went on to explain that Kenyan musicians largely rely on international royalty systems such as BMI and ASCAP in the United States, or streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music for their earnings, despite having their music heavily consumed within Africa.
“We’re actually earning from, you know, platforms abroad, royalty systems abroad. So I think that it’s time for the African Union to really join in on that conversation,” she urged.
Kenya, like many African countries, lacks a fully digitised system for tracking music plays across all platforms. This leaves gaps in accountability and allows unscrupulous intermediaries to benefit disproportionately from artists’ work.
Nikita’s call comes at a time when African music is gaining significant global traction. From Afrobeats to Amapiano, African rhythms are shaping global charts and culture. However, the financial reward rarely trickles down to the creators at the heart of this cultural movement.
 Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, over the unfair compensation practices from digital platforms.){kind=link}