Every year, there comes a kenyan song that becomes so big that it surpasses itself and the artist. A song that ceases to belong to the artist to become a Kenyan song, it belongs to the masses. “KunaKuna” by Vic West and Brandy Maina, “Geri Inengi” by Wakadinali, “G-Bag Ajat” by Stoopid Boy just to name a few.
This year, “Set It” by Dyana Cods featuring Ajay Buruklyn Boyz was that song for us, a song that united the whole country in unexplainable ways. A cultural revelance in dance, after a tough three months of anti-government protests,finally a breath of fresh air. The audio was an immediate success, however I would be dishonest if I didn’t appreciate the original tiktok dancers that made the choreography. The outburst of the #SetIt challenge in all social media channels made the song and Dyana Cods an household name. The video was also a success, garnering over 6 Million views on Youtube before it was pulled down. Church, that is our theme for today’s sermon, why?
In an Interview with Iko Nini Podcast, Ares 66, the producer and owner of Big Beatz Afriq explained vividly the whole situation and reason of conflicting Interests. In many words he explained that it was miscommunication from three parties, two fully involved in the making of the song and video, and a third party that was actually not. To fully understand the whole situation, you need to know the parties involved and the level of involvement.
For starters, the owner of the song Dyana Cods, is signed to Big Beats Afriq, the production house for the song which is owned by renowned Kenyan Producer and Rapper, Ares 66. Ajay (Buruklyn Boyz) was featured on the song ,this simply means, he has no idea how or why the song was made, he just had to place a verse, which he did splendidly. His verse carried the song, the #SetIt dance challenge was based on his verse, it’s safe to say that it is his song as much as it is Dyana Cods. But the law doesn’t work like that, as I type this in the court of public opinion, it doesn’t change the facts in the face of the law.
According to Ares 66, the feature artist was paid feature money and included in the split sheet of royalties distribution. Before you start scratching you head, a split sheet is a written agreement between contributors of a song. This ensures equity and fair ROI in a song, the percentages are subject to collective agreement. Everything was okay until well, it was not. To be precise, the feature artist was awarded 10% of total royalties, with Dyana Cods getting 10%, Ares the producer got 20% for mixing and mastering whilst the label got it’s usual 60%.
The seasoned producer stated that he was contacted by Ajay’s manager, proposing a renegotiation of the terms a while after the song was out. In my opinion the super success of the track and Video was unprecedented hence the need to adjust the terms, but I stated earlier, that is just public opinion, the law doesn’t work like that. The calls graduated from Ajay’s management to Buruklyn Boyz’ distribution and publishing company, an International company that shelfs out their music on all platforms.
It was their belief that since Ajay was signed to them, they deserved a piece of cake from the super successful song, a claim that seemed diabolical to Dyana Cods and the producer, since their agreement was with the artist and not the publishing company. Furthermore, Big Beats Afriq already have their distribution company making it senseless and unreasonable for them to change the publishing company.
To cut the long story short, the publishing company went ahead to strike a copyright claim on youtube to pull down the video, which they did. Unknown to them however, the masters and STEMS of the track are owned by Big Beats Afriq, the label in which Dyana Cods is signed under. In the Iko Nini podcast Interview, Ares 66 revealed that for the video, he teamed up with his partner company “Keja Ya Capo” to facilitate in planning and shooting. This invalidated claims by the publishing company of their entitlement to royalties generated from the song.
This is the second time we are witnessing this kind of altercations, with Nyashinski and producer Cedo having served us beef over the same kind of issue. The real problem however is the miseducation in the industry, a lot of people don’t know much about alot of things. Information surrounding copyright infringement, revenue splits and the need to write down agreements when collaborating for a project has many a times led to unnecessary squables among entertainment professionals.
