Royalties and Should TikTok Viral Video Creators Get a Share of Royalties?
19 May 2020
by Kabura Ng'ang'a
Last week there was an online debate on whether Azziad should get royalties from Femi One and Mejja from their hit single ‘Utawezana’. Starting off this article is my stand that she is not entitled to any royalties unless Femi One and Mejja and their management teams feel the need to include her in their distribution.
Royalties are the benefits an artist gets from their song distribution, rotation and streaming. With that stated, it is worth mentioning that Femi One and Mejja will get a good bag because ‘Utawezana’ has been enjoying a lot of airplay, distribution and streaming since its release. It already has over 5.4 million views on YouTube.
The single, upon its release on the 1st of April did not get the attention of many people until Azziad created a TikTok #UtawezanaChallenge video. She did so well and everyone who was watching her viral video also went on to listen to the original single. In essence, she is attributed to the person who made this song bigger than it already was.
This however does not make her entitled to any royalties made from the song. She was not part of the writing team, she did not contribute to the making, mixing or mastering of the song and she did not appear anywhere in the song to warrant a consideration. If anything, the viral TikTok video only made her a fan who really liked the song and influenced others to listen to it in its entirety and participate in the TikTok #UtawezanaChallenge.
There are many artists who are releasing singles and are now depending on the TikTok dance challenges to garner more listeners; Drake with Toose Slide, Megan Thee Stallion with Savage and many more. That does not mean that all these artists will be paying off part of their royalties to all the TikTok users who participate in the dance challenges and blow up.
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