Lilongwe-based musician Skeffa Chimoto left for Lusaka, Zambia on Friday for performances at the agricultural and commercial show soon after receiving K3.6 million gross from Airtel Malawi caller tunes.
The past years have seen musicians such as Lawrence Mbenjere and Joseph Nkasa pocketing millions from broadcast royalties but Skeffa is the highest recipient in the first distribution of the caller tunes royalties.
“I am excited and I am motivated. Let me be frank with you that I had given up as an artist that I could get anything from caller tunes,” said the musician nicknamed the ‘Jamming Machine’ for his electric live acts.
Skeffa, the star of ‘Chinamuluma Chakuda’, said he will continue to give people the best.
“As I am talking to you, I am going to Lusaka, Zambia to represent the country at the agricultural and commercial show. The shows are organised by the government of Zambia through the show society and we share the stage with artists from Zambia and other countries,” he said.
He said this year they will, among others, be sharing the stage with controversial Congolese singer Koffi Olomide.
Skeffa was expected to have his first show yesterday. His other show is today and is expected home on August 12.
Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma) Senior Licensing Officer Rosario Kamanga described the distribution of caller tunes royalties as a milestone.
“We are also excited to see that what was viewed as a threat to the artists’ livelihood is proving to be a good-income streaming for the artists,” Kamanga said.
Kamanga said they paid out royalties in excess of K32 million for the years 2012 to 2014.
He said they are yet to distribute for three years up to 2016 and that this is expected to be done within the next two to three weeks.
On TNM caller tunes , Kamanga said they recently concluded the agreement and that they were invoiced but are yet to pay.
Airtel Malawi Marketing Director Emmanuel Kasambala said the mobile company has been an avid supporter of the music industry over the years through Airtel Trace Music Stars and previous support of the Lake of Stars and Sand music festivals among others.
“So when we started offering the Hello Tune on the market back in December 2011, we wanted to have a mobile-based platform that could offer artists and musicians a unique channel of promoting and selling their music through customer downloads and subscription of their music as ringtones,” Kasambala said.
He said they were pleased to have symbolically presented to Cosoma K94, 382, 298 million in honour of all the Hello Tune local and international music purchases and downloads made by customers (as artist royalties) for five years (2011 to 2016).
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