Sheebah Demands Artists’ Royalty Rights

Sheebah Karungi recently voiced her concern about the need for artists to unite and fight for their royalties.

According to reports, the UK royalty collection and licensing business PRS for Music honoured Wizkid and Tems ‘Essence‘ as the company broke its yearly royalty collection record with $964 million.

What are Music Royalties

To fully understand the significance of the issue, we need to first understand royalties. Royalties are payments granted to artists based on how their creative works are used or distributed. They are essential in order for artists to maintain their careers and lives.

The Plight of Artists:

Unfortunately, many artists, including Sheebah, face challenges in receiving fair compensation for their work. They often encounter issues such as unauthorized use of their music, inadequate royalty rates, and delayed payments. This hinders their ability to thrive and continue producing quality content.

The Uganda Performing Right Society (UPRS) has been unable to distribute royalties to its members due to a lack of agreement on how to do so. The society collected Shs247m in royalties in 2022, but without a monitoring system to guide distribution, it was not possible to distribute the money.

Members resolved to have the money distributed equally among all members within two weeks, but the Uganda Registration Services Bureau cautioned UPRS to maintain the Copyright Act 2006 Section 58(c), which emphasises the distribution of royalties to appropriate beneficiaries.

UPRS management decided to undertake appropriate measures before it moves forward with the resolution and this shall require more time before the royalty distribution exercise, which is anticipated to happen in the next four months.

UPRS represents the rights of more than 4,000 members in Uganda and licenses organisations to play, perform or make available copyrighted music on behalf of its members and those of overseas societies, distributing the royalties to them fairly and efficiently

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Sheebah’s Take on Royalities

With this backdrop, Sheebah Karungi has called on Ugandan musicians to band together and fight for their royalties.

“Dear Ugandan Musicians, This is precisely why we must get together and fight for our royalties. And in order to do so, we need our copyrights,” Sheebah tweeted.

Even with luck, the ‘Kikabuka’ singer added, you’ll never know where the money goes back here.

“We have to fight for ourselves otherwise the music industry of Uganda is collapsing. That’s why I won’t STOP. WE NEED OUR MUSIC TO BE COPYRIGHTED.”, Sheebah Added.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

1. Why are royalties important for artists?
   • Royalties serve as a vital source of income for artists, allowing them to sustain their careers, invest in their craft, and support their livelihoods.
2. How can artists protect their royalties?
   • Artists can safeguard their royalties by working with reputable music publishing companies, copyright registration, monitoring unauthorized use of their work, and seeking legal recourse when necessary.
3. What can fans do to support artists’ fight for royalties?
   • Fans can support artists by purchasing their music from official platforms, attending live performances, sharing their work on social media, and actively advocating for fair compensation.