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Zahara Music Contract Dispute: How Record Labels Work With Artistes

1 year agoSun, 17 Dec 2023 05:42:01 GMT
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Zahara Music Contract Dispute: How Record Labels Work With Artistes

There have been reports on social media that Zahara, a South African singer who recently passed away, may have been unfairly treated by her initial record label, TS Records. It is said that despite her debut album, Loliwe, making millions of Rands, Zahara received only a small portion of that money. She revealed in an interview that her shows would generate around R100,000, but she would only receive R15,000 after persistently pushing the record label. This upset her fans.

However, according to Davetontv, Zahara may not have been intentionally cheated. It is possible that she signed a contract without fully understanding its implications, which affected her in the long run. Davetontv explains that Zahara’s record label, TS Records, had a licensing deal with Universal Music. This meant that Universal Music had the right to use TS Records’ music for marketing and distribution. In this agreement, Universal Music paid TS Records for the rights to the music, and TS Records retained the copyright ownership.

In such licensing agreements, royalties are typically distributed based on the terms of the contract. Artists like Zahara usually receive a percentage of record sales, around 12%, and a portion of publishing royalties, which can range from 60-85%. These royalties are earned from performance and mechanical rights.

Record companies primarily make money from record sales, not from artist bookings or performances. Artist bookings are usually handled by the artist’s manager, who earns a percentage from the artist’s earnings. The record company profits from album sales and ticket sales from performances. In South Africa, it has become common for record companies to also manage artists, which can create conflicts of interest. However, regardless of the management arrangement, the manager should not take more than 15% of the artist’s income from public performances.

DJ Sbu and TK, co-founders of TS Records, have stated that they do not owe Zahara anything according to the contracts and obligations in the music industry. DJ Sbu revealed that in 1999, he was offered a contract by BULA Music but chose not to sign it. Instead, the contract was given to Lundi Tyamara, who unfortunately died in poverty. DJ Sbu told IOL that record labels invest a significant amount of money in making an artist successful, covering various expenses. Artists are often required to pay back these investments before making any money from album sales. DJ Sbu had to choose between fame and financial stability, and he chose to continue his studies.

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Similarly, TS Records invested a lot of money upfront in Zahara’s debut album, taking on the financial risk. It is standard practice for the record label to recoup its investment first before the artist receives any profits. This information is clearly stated in the contracts artists sign. Therefore, DJ Sbu and TK argue that they do not owe Zahara anything because they fulfilled their contractual obligations. DJ Sbu uses the analogy of a contract with a company like PnP – if you sign a contract with them, you cannot complain when they make billions in profit and you only receive what is specified in the contract.

Contractual disagreements have also happened in Zimbabwe which makes education crucial for artists to understand the administrative and legal aspects of the music industry. Artists should have knowledgeable professionals, such as entertainment lawyers, to guide them through contracts and protect their interests.

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8 Comments

Victoria falls resident. · 1 year ago
Corruption is everywhere. if you know you know.inga kune song corruption in e society.
king · 1 year ago
Contract is contract . simple . you are given the contract sheets to read for days and sign it if OK or don't sign it and ask for clarification . you can't blame the company . same apply when some people just sign their dockets without reading them with full under sting. you are not forced to sign a contract .
sibs · 1 year ago
why its been told today when there death , there were supposed to say before this tragedy..... people always talk
tl · 1 year ago
this has been said several times. Zahara did not read the fine print thats what kills us as blacks. if she had she wouldn't have gone through all this poverty. Not only in music but almost everywhere even @ work,blacks run to sign contracts without reading the fine print & when it bits us we cry foul
zero · 1 year ago
shame on u DJ Sbu and ur friends, Jehovah will punish u that I'm telling u, otherwise u r responsible for her death how can u rob Zahara in that way. After making over millions of rands u only give her 15000 rands kkk lilezibindi lina bafana Zahara will raise and haunt u
Bvepfepfe · 1 year ago
😑😑😑😑😑😑😑 This is sad, that's the problem with most artists, they never Google about how the music industry works and what most contracts are like. U indeed need a lawyer or someone who understands contracts. In Zimbabwe this happens a lot, many musicians vanofa vari marombe. Zvinotoda kuti uve ne munhu anonzwisisa these things achikubatsira. Look at Jah Prayzah, Oliver Mutukudzi, Pastor Charles Charamba, these are some of the musicians who have over $1 million USD net worth. Tuku died as a millionaire. Charles Charamba has a net worth over 1 million USD net worth, he owns a farm rinochengeta livestock
🧐 🤔 · 1 year ago
That's bad and abusive of artists, honestly, Loliwe was a hit and to hear things of this contractual nature it's clearly a daylight robbery, Crime in SA is rife and she could have been duped millions a million times, coz theseSA guys they prey on your vulnerability and miseducare like anything The same in the U S that's when you see a once a hit maker getting into drug peddling and abuse cause where people gather for shows obviously others would like that packaging as souvenir etc, and they are many For a show to happened and or recording you need money and if you are struggling structureless and within foreboding strategic ambiguity you, get frustrated and get to end your career in the CCC formart🙄🤪 And so the drug Lords fund everything tour's and collabos travel etc and once you lose essence to them because of fame you have they make you get involved in drugs this happens in SA at most and the US is well known, Poor girl with golden voice, just because she wasn't backed up with trusted people, they simply made her a cash cow to milk her money in the name of contractual agreements It happens even at some workplaces especially in mechanical fields where after a company goes on to loses millions hiring expert to rectify a problem, after failing, only to a sweeper applies a tap on machine and the machine starts to work perfectly
🌀🌀🌀🌀 BLUE CYCLONE 💙 · 1 year ago
dj sbu vakadya mari neshamwari dzavo

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