Ashley Moyo
SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
AS part of efforts to restore confidence among copyright holders, Alexio Gwenzi took advantage of a recent personal visit to Johannesburg to pay a courtesy call on South Africa’s music rights giant, South African Music Rights Organisation (Samro), where he exchanged notes on royalty collection and music rights management.
The visit by the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (Zimura) board chair comes at a time when Zimbabwe’s creative sector is grappling with persistent copyright infringement, royalty evasion and growing frustration among local artistes over low payouts.
“My recent visit to Johannesburg was aimed at understanding how our regional counterparts in the Collective Management sector operate,” he said.
“Specifically, I wanted to study how they collect revenue on behalf of music composers, distribute those funds fairly, and utilise advanced systems to achieve the best possible compensation for their members.”
The numbers alone tell a sobering story.
According to Gwenzi, Samro recently distributed more than US$24 million to musicians and composers in South Africa, a staggering figure compared to the US$475 000 distributed by Zimura in Zimbabwe during the same period.
For many within Zimbabwe’s arts industry, the gulf highlights not only the economic challenges facing local musicians, but also the urgent need for reforms within the country’s copyright ecosystem.
“Frankly, this disparity is unacceptable, and it highlights the urgent need for us to learn from those who are performing better,” Gwenzi said candidly.
In recent years, Zimbabwe’s music industry has struggled to fully monetise creative works amid rampant piracy, unlicensed music usage and weak enforcement of copyright laws.
For many artistes, royalties remain too small to sustain livelihoods despite their music enjoying widespread public consumption.
Against that backdrop, Gwenzi believes benchmarking with successful regional organisations could provide a roadmap for transformation.
“Therefore, it is critical that we benchmark our operations and exchange notes with industry leaders who have successfully overcome these challenges, ensuring we best serve our members’ interests,” he added.
During the trip, Gwenzi toured Samro’s impressive nine-storey headquarters, gaining first-hand insight into the systems and infrastructure that have helped the organisation become arguably Africa’s largest performing rights CMO.
He also met Jotam Matapuri, the chief executive of Composers Authors and Publishers Association, commonly known as Capasso, an organisation specialising in mechanical rights and digital music monitoring.
The engagement with Capasso proved particularly eye-opening as digital streaming and online platforms increasingly become major revenue drivers for musicians globally.
Gwenzi revealed that some Zimura members had already begun benefiting from online music usage revenues, with the highest earner receiving as much as US$8 000 last year.
Industry observers say this demonstrates the untapped potential within Zimbabwe’s music sector if stronger systems for tracking, licensing and monetising digital consumption are put in place.
“This proves there is immense potential for more Zimbabwean musicians to earn life-changing revenues that improve their social and economic well-being, bringing them on par with their regional peers,” said Gwenzi.
For local musicians who have long complained about meagre royalty payments, the developments signal a possible shift towards a more modern and technology-driven rights management system.
“Our future plans include learning from Nigeria and Botswana about how we can modernise and improve our operations for the ultimate benefit of our members,” he said.