Celebrated singer Mani Martin recently took to social media to complain about other singers who use his songs to make money, without any consultation or mutual agreement on how the profits can be shared. Inspired by the need to put an end to the issue of earning so little from their art, a group of university students; Jean-Christian Ndikubwayo, Scott Gaga Butera, and Denis Rwema, has come up with a platform which they hope will promote local music listenership, boost sales and encourage upcoming musicians not to give up on the craft. According to Butera, a co-founder, the platform, which the group named ‘MNI-Muzika Nyarwanda Ipande Ltd’ will offer listeners a chance to vote for their favourite songs and in the end, the winning song is awarded. He explains that for each vote, the fan will be charged Rwf50 and at the end of the month, the money collected will see the musician walk away with 60 percent after telecommunication charges and withholding taxes. He further added that besides that the first three songs with the highest votes will be awarded every after three months to enhance the efforts of the musicians while also attract more artistes to join the platform. The three artists whose songs will emerge among the top three will get, Rwf2,000,000, Rwf700,000 and Rwf300,000 respectively. MNI through its projects hopes to also generate job opportunities for both its stakeholders such as telecommunication companies, printing and media houses. Long road The idea to launch the platform was developed this year but financial constraints hindered its launch. Through their savings, the team eventually brought their ‘baby’ to life. “We started with Rwf200,000 of our own money but we were lucky enough to pitch and get other investors on board,” Ndikubwayo, one of the co-founders says. The platform was launched on October 7. So far, people are responding to the platform positively. For the last three weeks, about 36 artistes have accounts on the platform and 44 songs have so far been uploaded. More interestingly though, in less than two months since it was launched, fans have voted for their favourite songs about 1,793 times. Some of the artistes that use the platform are; Danny Vumbi, Safi Madiba, Bruce Melodie, Jay Polly, ‘Mico The Best’, DJ Pius, among others. Although the website is in Kinyarwanda, there are hopes of having the French and English version to enable people outside Rwanda to participate as well. Stakeholders weigh in Music producer Daniel Izere, commonly known as “Dany Beats” of ‘Made Beats Studio’ welcomed the idea but had some reservations. “Obviously this is a great idea when it comes to musicians but there are many people behind a musician’s song like the director, songwriter, and producer. It would have been great to consider them, even if they were to get Rwf10 per vote,” he suggested. Izere emphasised the need for more awareness so that artistes can better understand the value of being part of this platform. He suggested the idea of the platform extending its dream to deal with artistes by following up and making sure that they are paid when their music is played on radio, TV or anywhere else. For Claude Nkurunziza alias Dee Rugz, an upcoming artiste, the MNI platform is an opportunity for musicians to publicise their respective projects and for music lovers to enjoy diversity. He however hopes that more features like the biography of an artiste should be included so that whoever is voting also knows more about the artiste. “Marketing music can really be hard but with such a platform, there is an opportunity to have your music heard while at the same time you are being paid. It is a valuable platform,” he said. Gospel artiste Sam Muvunyi views MNI as the answer to the Rwandan music industry. “It is the only platform, as of now, that gives an opportunity for fans to show their support to the musicians they love. The money too is added advantage but there is need to look into grooming new talent,” he said.
