Paltry US$120 music rights payment for Sebastian Magacha in 2024

Sabastian Magacha, earned a paltry 33 cents a day, US$2,30 a week and US$10 a month from the rights to his music played on various platforms, including on the digital spaces, which were monitored by the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association.

This means Magacha received a payment of just US$120 from ZIMURA last year.

He revealed the ZIMURA payment under oath when he appeared at the Harare Civil Court in a case in which his baby mama was accusing him of neglecting their child.

With a lot of focus on yet another high-profile celebrity being shamed for not taking care of his child, the issue of the paltry amount he received from those who are meant to protect the rights of his music, was largely ignored.

But as the dust begins to settle on the maintenance case, after Magacha was ordered to pay US$200 a month in child support for his six-year-old child, focus is beginning to turn on some of the details he revealed in court.

And, one of them has to be the paltry amount of money he received from ZIMURA.

“I furnish the State that my monthly income is plus or minus US$500,” Magacha said in his opposing affidavit.

“I am not formally employed and I am a gospel artist. That is my source of income and I have no other source of income.

“I have attached a detailed statement from the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association, where they pay each artist a yearly once-off payment for the songs played on air.

“The net revenue from the ZIMURA was US$120 for 2024.”

That a star like Magacha can receive only US$120 from ZIMURA for a year’s work is a shock as it means that those who do not have a status like his probably did not get even a cent.

It remains to be seen if a strategic partnership, which ZIMURA entered into earlier this year, will result in a significant boost to the amounts which the artists will be earning at the end of the year.

In February, ZIMURA announced that it had partnered with ACRCloud, a global music recognition technology provider, to enhance broadcast monitoring services.

The association said the collaboration was meant to improve the accuracy and efficiency of royalty distribution to local music stars.

ZIMURA said this partnership would automate the tracking of music played on radio stations and leverage ACRCloud’s technology to identify songs, track play counts, and monitor airplay durations in real-time.

A breakdown was presented as to how this system, which replaced the manual tracking methods, would benefit the artists:

· The partnership will help ZIMURA ensure that musicians are fairly compensated for their work by accurately tracking their music’s airplay.

· ACRCloud’s technology will enable real-time monitoring of music played on radio stations, providing detailed data on song titles, artists, and International Standard Recording Codes (ISRC).

 

· The collaboration will replace manual, error-prone tracking systems with an automated, AI-powered solution.

· ZIMURA will integrate ACRCloud’s technology with WIPO Connect, a music rights management tool, to further enhance the system’s capabilities.

· The initiative is expected to minimise errors, reduce administrative workload, and ensure that local artists receive the royalties they are due.

The paltry payment which Magacha received pales into insignificance when one just compares with the figures which Spotify’s latest Loud & Clear report revealed was paid to South African gospel artists, in royalties, last year.

The South African gospel artists earned nearly R400 million in royalties from the streaming platform last year.

This amount was twice what the same artists earned in 2022.

The report noted that South African artists who were making over R500 000 doubling since 2022.