Among the artistes suffering in the music industry today, is Niyo Bosco, one of the best lyricists and vocalists in Rwanda, who is struggling to record his first album after parting ways with two record labels within less than a year.
The decision to depart from first management MIE, Niyo Bosco said, was triggered by how his manager stole all his money and revenues that were coming from all his streaming platforms, especially YouTube.
He said this on Friday, May 12, during a Twitter Space that was initiated to fundraise enough money for Niyo Bosco to record his maiden album.
It is also after a voice note of Niyo Bosco, accusing his former manager of stealing from him, started circulating on different social media platforms and caught the attention of many.
"Without my first manager, I wouldn’t be where I am today, but that's not how the business of music works. I never received any of my earnings that were generated from all my projects and I consider that as theft. That’s why I had to bring the law into this,” Niyo Bosco said on the Twitter space that had thousands of listeners from around the world.
Another thing, he said, his manager was fraudulently taking advantage of his talent by not paying him 30 per cent revenue of his YouTube income, one of the spark causes of the saga.
"There was a lot that ended our relationship but not paying me part of my YouTube revenues was the main cause that even made me hire a lawyer. I hope no one else will face this kind of bribery in the industry,” Niyo added.
Sunday Ent was not different
The scamming did not end with the first management line, but later progressed to the latest label that signed Niyo Bosco, as he revealed during the Twitter space.
He said that after signing a contract with Sunday Entertainment, the same mistakes that had pushed him to leave MIE started appearing and forced him to leave the new management as well.
"It was a branding with no impact,” said Niyo Bosco.
Early this year, is when news started coming out that the relationship between Niyo Bosco, and the Sunday Entertainment record label which he had recently signed with, had come to a screeching halt.
The renowned singer and songwriter joined Sunday Entertainment in January 2023, after parting ways with Irene Murindahabi’s MIE that managed him since he launched his music career in 2020.
Niyo remains one of the best vocalists and lyricists in the history of the Rwandan music industry. He rose to fame after the release of his first track, ‘Ubigenza Ute’ which got him signed under MIE until he parted ways with the music house on October 28, 2022.