Renowned South African singer-songwriter Yvonne Chaka Chaka, celebrated as the "Princess of Africa," has encouraged artistes to register their works with Collecting Management Organizations (CMOs) so they can not only get protected but also make earnings in a transparent way.

A CMO in Rwanda is in pipeline and this could be good news for artistes who have been condemning people violation of their copyrights, leading them to losing millions, if not billions, in royalties.

The Rwanda Society of Authors Union (RSAU) has, since its inception in 2009, been collecting artistes’ royalties but the beneficiaries have always been complaining that the amount collected is way below what they are supposed to earn from their works.

To address the persisting concerns, the government is on track to establish a CMO which is thought to end these complaints and help artistes collect their royalties accordingly.

Why CMO?

Collective Management Organization (CMO) is an entity that collects and distributes royalties on behalf of copyright owners. CMOs act as intermediaries between copyright owners and users of their work, licensing the work to users and collecting royalties for its use.

CMOs then distribute the royalties to the copyright owners based on how their work was used.

Encouraging young artists to protect their work, veteran musician Chaka Chaka outlined the importance of registering with Collecting Management Organizations (CMOs) just like she does with South Africa’s Capasso and Sambra.

"When you start writing your music, it’s crucial to connect with a CMO and register your work. Without doing so, anyone could potentially take your music. Currently, the main focus for CMOs is on collecting royalties from digital music, and it’s a 10-year process,” she said.

Reference to the case of Capasso and Sambra, Chaka Chaka shared that it’s essential to ensure that artistes’ music must be properly recorded and submitted to CMOs.

"This way, when your music is played, you can be sure that someone is collecting your royalties on your behalf. Sambra also collects revenue for you when your music videos are aired on television,” she said.

Chaka Chaka, 59, was in Kigali last week where she not only performed at ACCES' conference at ACCES' conference but also connected with Rwandan artistes from various sectors.

The discussion, organized by Rwanda Arts Initiative, tackled various strategies to monetize their works in a way or another and emphasized on embracing CMOs to get the right reward for their works.

Supported by her management team, Chaka Chaka is ranked among the musicians who collect a lot of royalties in South Africa and beyond.