New platform to trace Rwandan artistes’ revenues in ‘hidden’ royalties

The conversation around music royalties in Rwanda has long been stuck in the shallows as local talent generates global streams, yet the financial returns remain frustratingly meager. The common narrative among many artistes revolves almost entirely around distribution—getting their songs onto Spotify or Apple Music and hoping for the best. Even that process itself is riddled with complexity, it often requires artists to rely on friends abroad to cash out royalties due to inadequate payment pathways, or worse, succumbing to foreign platforms that impose conditions designed to skim off the top. Since 2017, when the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) approved a royalty tariff for the commercial use of artistic content, less than Rwf 90 million has been distributed to artistes by the Rwandan Society of Authors (RSAU). ALSO READ: Can Rwanda turn the tide on music royalties? The distribution company was recently shut down, leaving Rwandan artistes with no option but to rely on digital streaming royalties or partner with major record labels such as Sony Music or Universal Music Group to earn a penny from their music. But this singular focus is missing the real goldmine: publishing royalties. Publishing royalties are the money owed to the composer and songwriter. It is a massive, opaque revenue stream that, due to sheer lack of transparency and knowledge on the African continent, has quietly been diverted to the pockets of global corporations for years. ALSO READ: Musicians sue hospitality outlets over unpaid royalties As a result to the royalties problem, young entrepreneur Hervé Muvunyi, founded Dajah Group, a specialized financial and administrative firm that has positioned itself as the local, transparent solution committed to empowering creators. “We found that for many years, Rwandan artists were only getting paid for half of their work,” Muvunyi told The New Times. “They were focused on the master (recorded music) revenue, while the underlying composition—the song itself—was earning money globally that was simply being lost.” The financial administration gap According to Muvunyi, the vision of his new platforms is not just about collecting royalties, but also about turning a creative passion into a sustainable, accountable business. “The complex world of music royalties doesn't have to be a mystery. Our mission is to transform it into a streamlined and profitable business for the creator,” Muvunyi noted. “We handle the comprehensive global registration of works with Performance Rights Organisations (PROs) and collection societies in over 120 countries. This unlocks what we call the 'hidden money,' which comes from all public uses of the composition.” This, Muvunyi said, includes critical revenue streams that are rarely tracked by local artists, such as Performance Royalties—paid every time a song is played publicly on radio, television, in bars, hotels, or streamed online. Others include Mechanical Royalties, paid each time a song is reproduced, whether as a physical copy or a digital stream, and Micro-Sync Royalties, which are crucial in the digital age as they generate income from short, non-exclusive uses of a song in user-generated content, such as background music in a TikTok video. “Every single play in a festival in Brussels or a stream in Ottawa is generating a publishing royalty that should land in the hands of the Rwandan writer. If that composition is not registered properly, that money just sits in the international system,” Muvunyi asserts. “We are here to make sure that money finds its way to the artist.” A distribution solution for music labels Beyond publishing, the firm is also bringing a cutting-edge solution to the local music industry’s backbone, the labels. “For our local labels, we identified that one of their biggest ongoing costs is distribution fees across their entire artist catalog. We now help these labels acquire and operate their own bespoke distribution platforms. This allows them to effectively self-distribute, cutting out the middleman fees permanently and maximizing revenue across their entire roster.” ALSO READ: Govt moves to enforce law on artistes' royalties For individual artists, they offer free guidance on how to navigate the numerous online platforms to ensure they choose the most efficient, artist-friendly distribution pathways. Turning music into an investable business Beyond just collecting royalties, Dajah Group’s goal is to legitimize music as a bankable business asset through robust Licensing and Administration. “When you have full, transparent administration, you create a property that is worth investing in,” says Muvunyi. “We dedicate ourselves to Sync & Licensing, actively pitching a client's music for placement in films, TV, and commercial ads. This is a high-value revenue stream that turns the music into a serious, investable asset, which can then be used to work with financial institutions and attract proper investment.” Currently, the company works with some of the most influential names in Rwanda’s music industry, including reputable labels such as Agura Music, as well as top-performing artists and producers like Kenny K-Shot and Producer X. By addressing the administration of publishing rights, the lucrative world of licensing, and the headache of distribution fees (especially for local labels), this platform is moving to provide a complete financial solution for Rwanda’s creators. It is a necessary intervention, shifting the power dynamic and ensuring that the staggering sums generated by Rwandan music globally finally start flowing back to Kigali.

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New platform to trace Rwandan artistes’ revenues in ‘hidden’ royalties