KENYA: Why Kenyan DJs Are Making More Money Than Artists

Could DJ’s in Kenya surprisingly be making more money than musicians? DJ Hassan responds...

This year has been a revealing year for the music industry. And at the center of it all, a video that Elani made at the beginning of the year showing why they had to remain silent for a whole year after being paid peanuts by the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) in 2015 despite their high success the previous year 2014.

This led to the inevitable suspension and firing of the then MCSK CEO Maurice Okoth as well as a serious call from artist for reforms in the body.

But I digress. Now recently popular Homeboyz spin master DJ Hassan speaking to Mondayblues revealed that DJ’s in Kenya could easily make a tune of up to Ksh400,000 a week, which is more than most artists in the country could hope to make in a month let alone a week.

“Well-established deejays are making up to Ksh400,000 a week, money only very few musicians can make. I think deejaying is becoming very lucrative and good deejays are in for a big showbiz windfall,” Hassan told the newspaper.

“It took me over one year to sit back and rethink the art. Now I am back and I am looking at deejaying from a very different perspective. I want to be the finest there can be...I think I am,” he quipped.

From TV and radio shows to mixing in gigs and conccerts, DJs seem to always be busy making money in one way or another. And for established DJs like Hassan, Creme de la Creme and Joe Mfalme, this is really paying off. 

With that said, I pose a question to you. Is it about time artists started rethinking their art and how they can profit from it, just like DJ Hassan did, or should they continue to fight the seemingly never-ending fight for their royalties?