How to solve problems the #ElaniSpeaks way

Last week, the Internet in Kenya was abuzz with revelations that the band Elani had made a YouTube video.

In it, they talked about the low payments they had received from the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) after what had been a very successful year for them.

After they questioned how their royalties had been arrived at, they said MCSK offered them more money, ten times the initial amount. Other artistes such as Habida, Emmy Kosgey, and Avril also came forward with their opinions on the state of the industry.

The #ElaniSpeaks discussion led to more discussions among musicians, producers, executives, politicians, and even the President, about the state of an industry that attracts many talented young people.

A lot of this was revealed in a very interesting session of The Trend with Larry Madowo last weekend, that featured a diverse panel.

It seems, from this discussion, that a lot needs to be done, including the ongoing moves to rework a lucrative phone ring-tone deal and protect copyright better through laws passed in Parliament.

#ElaniSpeaks taught three lessons that should be applied by organisations, individuals, and the country.

The first is for people to participate actively in the organisations or partnerships they are members of. It seems many musicians were ignorant of their membership in different organisations, and the roles they play in the collection of revenue.

These organisations, in addition to the MCSK for songwriters, include the Kenya Association of Music Producers for producers and the Performers Rights Society of Kenya ,for performing musicians.

TWO GOLD MEDALS

The way to improve any organisation is for members to be active and informed, by reviewing by-laws, attending meetings and training sessions, and voting for leaders with vision.

The same lesson can be applied to other organisations, including property management committees, professional societies, school boards and saccos.

The second is for organisations, and the nation, to seize moments of poor performance as opportunities to learn from. They should act to improve and avoid repeating mistakes.

MCSK and the Kenyan music industry have gone through this experience in the last few days, and it seems, will emerge better.

More widely, there are other incidents, similar to #ElaniSpeaks, that should have sparked similar reactions and reflection.

The Garissa or El Adde attacks should have started a national, not political, debate. For soccer, it should have been the calamitous arrangements and risky flight that Harambee Stars took to Cape Verde.

For athletics, it could have been the London 2012 Olympics, where Kenya collected a ‘dismal’ two gold medals, despite expectations for much more. Those moments were forgotten, and the organisations involved will probably lurch on until the next crisis.

The athletics fraternity can probably say they have recovered from the team infighting and poor training reported in London almost four years ago, after they topped the Beijing World Championships table in 2015, thanks to super performances by Julius Yego and Nicholas Bett.

BAD MANAGERS

However, the Rio Olympics of 2016 will be the true test of whether Kenyan athletics has recovered from the ignominy of losing the marathon final.

Finally, around the same time as #ElaniSpeaks, the passing of musician David Bowie left yet another lesson. A legendary rock musician for almost 50 years, Bowie made financial history about twenty years ago, when he sold part of his music catalogue for $55 million.

The music business, while lucrative for many of its stars, has also been cruel to some. The Beatles and Elvis Presley, the early Motown stars and Jackson 5, producers Teddy Riley and Jermaine Dupri, singers Dionne Warwick and Toni Braxton, and rappers 50 Cent and Tupac Shakur, can all tell such stories.

They have all faced various business issues in their careers, including losing their songs, low royalties, bad contracts, bad managers, bad deals, and even bankruptcy.

Bowie made his deal, and in so doing, spurred other musicians like Madonna, the Motown songwriters and Michael Jackson to increase their earnings in new realms.

On TheTrend, it was mentioned that Tanzanian artiste Diamond Platnumz was one of the highest-paid artistes in Kenya in 2015. This was a reminder and wake-up call for Kenyans. Like foreign artistes, even they can earn beyond their borders.

Twitter: @bankelele