Something important is happening in Zimbabwe’s music industry: we are finally having the copyright conversation we should have had years ago. What began around disputes over cover bands has opened a much bigger conversation about ownership, royalties, licensing, intellectual property and the systems meant to protect creators.

Editorial by Plot Mhako

And importantly, this conversation has emerged organically. It is not an NGO-funded campaign or a manufactured debate. Artists, musicians, producers, media and the public are asking questions, and Parliament has also entered the conversation.

That is where our attention should be.

Not simply on who said what about whom, but on where this moment takes us. Can it lead to reviews, better copyright laws, policies, systems and infrastructure for Zimbabwe’s creative industry?

This is much bigger than cover bands.

It dates back to agreements signed by artists with record labels like Gramma decades ago. How the Urban Grooves were signed to production houses, the copyright ownership within the Zimdancehall space, ownership of online stores and who is benefiting from the Zim music being consumed online. It is about who actually owns the music. It is about intellectual property on digital platforms. It is about publishing, master rights, royalties, licensing and inheritance.

Did you know that a Nigerian company owns the bulk of Zimdancehall music made between 2011 and 2019. Yes let that sink!

Did you know that most of the music from yesteryear artists is owned, sold and distributed online without the families of the artist getting even a cent. They don’t own the music! Iyi inyaya hombe kupfuura ma Cover!

Whilst we are busy fighting over cover songs (not that I am minimizing the importance and need for a just system), there is someone in the developed world who is digitalizing and creating patents to our Mbira sound and traditional songs. Most importantly, it is about recognising that music is rarely created by one person.

Beyond the lead vocalist or band leader are songwriters, backing vocalists, instrumentalists, arrangers, composers, session musicians, engineers and producers whose creative contributions can become part of the music we celebrate for generations. How are their rights recognised, documented and compensated?

A few years ago, I raised an interesting concern involving Zimbabwe’s national anthem and digital rights-management systems. From my finding there appeared to be a non-Zimbabwean somewhere in the world who owns the digital rights and earns from our national anthem. That raises important questions about digital fingerprinting, specific sound-recording rights and how automated copyright systems identify and monetise music online. It is exactly the kind of issue that needs proper investigation and clarification rather than assumptions about ownership.

We therefore need to move beyond the sensationalism of personalities attacking each other.

There are serious structural questions before us.

ZIMURA and ZICCO need reform, transparency and greater clarity about their respective roles. The industry needs stronger accountability mechanisms, proper audits, accessible rights information and systems that allow creators to understand who collects what, from where, on whose behalf and where that money eventually goes.

It does not make sense for instance that 64% of what ZIMURA collects goes towards their admin and salaries. That is witchcraft! I hope one day artists realize that this is their money and they are not being done a favor and they need to have a voice and ask for accountability and transparency. I hope one day that most SILENT artists, (those who are enjoying the most attention and bookings right now) will realize that the $2000 royalties a year they are getting should maybe be $80 000. That will be the day they will stop begging for goodies and realize their music can buy them new cars if they paid attention to what matters in their careers.

This moment should not become another celebrity fight that trends for a week and disappears.

It should become an opportunity to interrogate, reform, educate, build and grow Zimbabwe’s creative industry.

Perhaps we were simply not ready for this conversation before. The fact that we are having it now means we are already in a better place.

And the media has an important responsibility too. Us as the media, we must go beyond amplifying fights and provocative statements. We need journalists who understand copyright, ask informed questions, interrogate institutions and help the public understand how the music business actually works.

Let the fights attract attention if they must. But let the conversation produce reform