Pitson: How I got paid Sh5k for my ‘Lingala ya Yesu’ by MCSK
Gospel musician Peterson Githinji, popularly known as Pitson, has laid bare embarrassing details of how he got paid peanuts for his hit song ‘Lingala ya Yesu‘.
Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), the agency mandated to collect and remit royalties on behalf of local musicians, bungled records in its office leading to a mix-up in the payments.
In an interview with Nairobi News on Friday morning, the gospel musician narrated his heart wrenching experience of watching his millions being pocketed by another local artiste.
“Yes I got paid peanuts by MCSK, but there was a reason,” Pitson told Nairobi News.
“Another musician had my MSCK number for almost three years and he or she was being paid my royalties and I was getting his or hers. How can MCSK make such a mistake?” the musician wondered.
“The payments are based on the logs and my logs showed that my song was only played in three gospel stations, yet I received airplay from almost all the stations including TV,” he added.
When he received his first payment of Sh 5,000 as royalties, he quickly contacted the agency’s CEO, Maurice Okoth, to vent his frustrations.
Pitson was eventually compensated an undisclosed amount of money by the society.
Critics have claimed that Pitson bribed a top official at MCSK to facilitate the payment of his dues, but the musician dismissed such claims.
“People might think that I bribed someone at the society which I did not, I just followed the right channels.”
“I pray that MSCK will change its ways and help the industry grow and that they should stop paying foreign musician more money than Kenyans,” he said in his parting shot.
