A video of singer Gasha with Shey Waves is going viral in which she talked about the ongoing song royalties dispute with Eddy Kenzo.
The dispute considers the collaboration of Cameroonian singer Gasha and Eddy Kenzo that was formed in the year 2015 for the hit song ‘Chill’.
In the interview, Gasha stated that Eddy Kenzo has been eating the fruits of Gasha’s labor for close to a decade and she stated that this has to stop.
Reportedly, Eddy Kenzo has demanded $1000 for the collaboration and Gasha paid him. After recording the song, Eddy Kenzo said that Gasha can by his voice, rights and everything about the song for another $1000.
Considering this, Gasha and her team has agreed and paid for everything in America. Both the artist recorded the song, produced the video and had a mutual understanding to upload it on Kenzo’s YouTube channel, since he had a bigger audience.
Now, it’s been nine years sine the song was released. It has recorded 5.1M YouTube views but Gasha has never seen a dime from it.
The most painful part of the controversy is that Eddy Kenzo has claimed the ownership of the song and uploaded it on all his steaming platforms.
Eddy went far and included the song in his album and made millions of it. Gasha complained about it but did nothing. They have never gotten back to Gasha with stats or ROI (Return of Investment) of the project.
This action taken by Eddy is not only disrespect but theft to Gasha and to Cameroon as well. Many other African stars have stood with Gasha.
Commenting on the same Clement Toh said, “Before I say what I have to say about Eddy Kenzo is his people fans and followers should know that I have always accorded him with respect and has always hailed him and promoted him to my Cameroonian people as a noble man.”
“However, I am taking back all my statements and the respect I had for him and I ask my followers to do the same till he addresses the issue between him and the Cameroonian sister Gasha,” said Clement Toh.
The blogger and artist said, “Gasha eventually laid a complaint to me and I can’t stay quiet. She paid 2000 dollars for the song CHILL, she had with Eddy Kenzo. Brought him from Uganda to Cameroon and shot a video.”
“Gasha trusted him with the distribution of the song and he went to Uganda and disappeared. Then he automatically claimed all the rights to the song after he uploaded it on his channels,” said Clement Toh.
He said that the song has received 5.1M views on YouTube and has also gathered over 400M on other platforms, but Gasha has not received even 1-francs from her royalty money.
This is unfair, unjust and wicked doing this to your fellow African. My Uganda people I believe you all love justice and will not support this act of wickedness, stated Clement Toh.
Even Wax Dey also presented his views over the controversy, “Let me explain a couple of things for the benefit of all artists. A recorded song has two components – Master and Publishing.”
Dey explained, “Master is the actual recording which is being sold and the publishing is the composition (of lyrics, melody and arrangements). I have read both sides of the story and wants to say that whoever paid for the recording owns the master and has the right to sell the song. Now, this is tricky because if Gasha paid for the recording, then it belongs to her, but if Eddy Kenzo did, then it belongs to him, even if she is the artist.”
Dey added that, if Gasha released the song in 2015 and by mutual agreement, Eddy Kenzo released it on his own platforms a year later, it implies that they might have agreed to share the master rights.
He added, “To be fair, I’d say that Eddy had to pay sales royalties to Gasha from the sales of his album and vice-versa. I believe Eddy owes Gasha some money, even in the absence of a written agreement or in the case, his word against her word.”
Wax Dey further explained the Publishing and said that it is a composition of money that the one gets to paid when his song is streamed on TV, Radio, Public Venues, Streaming sites or even cellphones. If someone else remixes the song, the artist still owns the publishing.
He added, “Publishing wise they both wrote their verses. They both should share the royalties. A share should also go to the one who arranged the song and the lion’s share should probably be reserved for who wrote the hook + their verse.”
Moreover, there is no split sheet, so these are issues that need to be addressed by both teams and agreed on paper. Somewhere around 2015, I did sign a publishing deal with Gasha, which was applicable retrospectively, but in 2016, she requested to rescind the contract, and I did not object.
Dey mentioned that it is her right and she should protect it ASAP.
He recalled the case which he filed against Shakira in 2010 in relation to the FIFA World Cup song ‘Waka Waka’ and said, “In Zangalewa’s case, they were not even aware, so I took it upon myself to find them and sign a publishing deal which permitted us to work on it.”
And as I said, both artist teams need to establish or enforce a written agreement now as the song is still active and earning revenue. Online hype is good, but it doesn’t get money in the bank, said Wax Dey.