Music Policy Discussion, Jun. 29 2016 @ Goethe-Institut Auditorium

Date: June 29, 2016
Venue: Goethe Institut Auditorium
Time: 6 pm

About
Music In Africa in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Nairobi will bring together Kenyan music industry stakeholders to discuss the country’s music policy on Wednesday 29 June at 6pm.

Titled ‘Music Policy in Kenya’, the discussion will focus particularly on the current state of affairs in music copyrights management, royalty collection and the sensitive issue of local versus foreign content on Kenyan radio and TV. The panel will include Perry Alando, the founder of Talent Management Agency, who came out strongly against the proposed laws, particularly the proposed Music Trust Fund that would ‘fix’ gate fees for all event organizers. Alando has worked as an artist and manager and staged concerts for performers such as Tangerine Fusion and Jabali Afrika. Also on the panel will be Merit Simiyu Wambati, operations manager and acting CEO of the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK). Wambati joined MCSK in October 2008 and was instrumental in the formation of their human resources department, which involved restructuring the team, designing and implementing the strategic plan and helping achieve international certification.

Maureen Kunga from the band Elani will speak on the subject from an artist’s perspective. Maureen holds a law degree from the University of Nairobi. Alongside her bandmates Wambui Ngugi and Bryan Chweya, they been outspoken in their criticism of the MCSK regarding royalty payouts for radio airplay. Also representing musicians on the panel will be John Katana of Them Mushrooms, who is also the acting secretary-general of the Kenya Musicians Union. In October 2015 he was re-appointed as the Director of the Kenya Copyright Board. With over 25 years of music industry experience, John is an accomplished musician, arranger, bandleader and producer who has worked with the likes of Esther Wahome, Kenge-Kenge, Shimelis Ararso (Ethiopia), Shaibu Ole Monduli (Tanzania), Tshaka Mayanja and Sammy Kasule (Uganda). The panel will be moderated by popular media personality Anyiko Owoko. She is a host and assistant producer of the TV show Grapevine, the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation’s longest-running entertainment magazine show. She is also Sauti Sol’s publicist.

The session will come to an end with a short performance by Kenyan artist Winyo.