Record producer Eric Musyoka has announced plans to award certifications for music sales in Kenya.
The chairman of the Recording Industry of Kenya (RIKE), believes that once the association is up and running, it will help increase the value of Kenyan artistes.
Gold and platinum certifications are usually awarded to albums or singles based on their sales performance.
“Apart from advocating for the welfare of artists and working with the government on policies that affect artists, our core mandate will include certifying album sales, digital downloads, song plays and issuing ISRC codes – the International Standard Recording Code for all recorded works in the world,” Musyoka said.
The ISRC code enables one to track their music globally, simplifying royalty collection for everyone due to this unique identification number.
“Currently, the distributor of the music is the one who issues these codes, but in the future we want RIKE to do it as it’s the standard best practice around the world,” said the producer.
Musyoka attributes the booming music industry in the US to a vibrant Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and hopes RIKE can do the same in Kenya.
“The RIIA is the body that certifies album and record sales whenever you hear about gold and platinum. They do the charts as well as being heavily involved in the Grammy’s. Their function, apart from producing data about the industry, is to give artistes clout. For example, you can’t get Burna Boy for less than a million dollars now because he’s a Grammy winner. That is the level we want to get to as RIKE,” he explained.
Currently, there are only three such associations in Africa, including the Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA) and the Recording Certification of Nigeria (RCN).
