Tanzanian singer Rayvanny will be forced to pay Wasafi Records another Ksh 2.5 million (Tsh 50million) fine, a month after he was charged Ksh 40 million (Tsh 800 million) to terminate his contract with the label.
The Tanzanian media reports claim the label, owned by the Tanzanian kingpin Diamond, has not fully cleared Rayvanny to be an independent artist despite paying to terminate his contract a month ago.
According to the reports, Rayvanny is still not allowed by Wasafi to perform at non-Wasafi concerts. Hence, the artist was fined Ksh 2.5 million (Tsh 50 million) for not honoring his contract with the Wasafi label after he performed at a concert organized by fellow artist Nandy last month.
Rayvanny is said to be have been disturbed by the amount of money Wasafi is milking him after quitting the label. The media reports claim that he has been seeking help to part ways with Wasfi completely without hurting his profit and brand.
Other former Wasafi artists who have suffered the same fate as Rayvanny are Harmonize and Rich Mavoko. Harmonize was forced to Diamond a huge amount of money to free himself from the Wasafi contract. He later accused Diamond of enriching himself through his signees’ whose large pecentage of their profits go to Diamond’s account.
Rich Mavoko also complained of being exploited in the Wasafi label. His sister was asked the label to pay Ksh 23 million (Tsh 500 million) after he ditched Wasafi in 2020.
In his defense, Diamond maintains that his label does not exploit anyone and the fines are meant to safeguard the label as a running profitable business.
Speaking to DW Africa a month ago, Diamond explained that his label helps musicians to transform their craft into a money-making business. He argued that it is not possible for artists to enjoy the whole profit after the label invested in branding and marketing their music.
“We do not just sign artistes, we make sure we transform their music into business and make them very rich,” explained Diamond, “Artistes signed under Wasafi become very successful. After we have done that, some of them want the to take it from us and enjoy the whole profit alone, yet we have invested in them.
