Bien, the lead vocalist of Sauti Sol, has responded to critics who claim the group has lost 2,000 YouTube subscribers.
After a quarrel with the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party about copyright infringement, they decided to split.
Sauti Sol has vowed to sue Azimio for using its hit song “Extravaganza” in a video during the introduction of the political party’s presidential candidate Raila Odinga’s running partner, Martha Karua.
Most people believe Sauti Sol is going after Azimio for the campaign rally, however that is not the case; they are requesting synchronization rights to an Azimio advertisement announcing their running mate.
On Wednesday, news came online disclosing the band’s page’s subscriber analytics, stating that they had 905,000 subscribers on Monday but had decreased to 903,000 on Wednesday.
Bien stated that he uses social media;
“Time will reveal. Wale wanashuka washuke saa hii. Stage yao imefika. (Those of you who want to alight, it’s already time.”
Speaking to Mpasho.co.ke, Bien said using someone’s intellectual property without their consent is stealing.
ODM party said they played Sauti Sol’s song during the occasion since they appreciate their work.
They acknowledged that the band is a celebrated team and that was a way of appreciating their music.
“The group has carried our country’s flag so high in international fora and every Kenyan appreciates this.”
Bien took to Instagram to respond to fans who attacked them.
“I’m reading comments on Twitter,” he wrote.
“Our education system is failing us. Too many ignorant keyboard warriors. The same guys stealing from us will steal from you.”
He added that they will never back down from doing what is right and distanced themselves from taking any political side.
The Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) CEO Ezekiel Mutua in a statement said Azimio obtained all necessary licences to play both local and international music in their campaign shows and material.
According to Mutua, synchronization licenses are issued by Collective Management Organisations (CMO) such as MCSK and not KECOBO, hence the authority of the copyright should refrain from commenting on affairs that do not fall under its jurisdiction.
“We wish to clarify that we licensed the Raila Odinga Presidential Campaign for use of musical works in their campaigns as per the Copyright Law and gazetted tariffs. We are therefore shocked to see the confusion being caused by KECOBO over this matter.”
