Mantra Beats Records

15/11/2025

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https://mantra-beats-records.web.app/

06/11/2025

Piano lessons for kids this holiday @ 200 per hour.

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https://mantratechnologyinstitute.com/

31/10/2025

17/10/2025

SPLIT SHEETS: HOW MAGIX ENGA COULD BE MAKING ‘HIDDEN’ MONEY
Picture these two scenarios.

Going through my timeline, I pick out the fact that popular Kenyan producer Magix Enga has been struggling to make ends meet.

When he was one of the most sought after producer, he made several hits that did very well in the music charts.

Now, picture a second scenario. Veteran music producer Ted Jossiah, in a video he posted sometime back, claimed that for the 30 plus years he has been in the music industry, he has never received any royalties for the music he produced.

Magix has big bangers like King Kaka’s ‘Dundaing’ under his production portfolio while Ted produced some of the biggest Kenyan artists, ranging from Necessary Noize, Suzana Owiyo, just to mention a few.

I will use these two producers as examples for now.

If all the hits they produced are making money through streams or any other mechanical means, should the producers be getting their cut?

That’s where split sheets come in.

For those who don’t know, a split sheet is a document signed after every song is recorded and finalized. It MUST be signed at the end of the recording.

What’s in it?

Generally, publishing rights on who participated in creating that song. They include the main artist, featured artists, writers, any instrumentalists and, of course, the producer.

So even if you pay these people to participate in making of the song at that particular time, they will still own composition rights in future.

A lot of people think that once you pay a song writer, or the guy who played the guitar or pay for studio sessions, that’s it. Nope!

You have just paid for their time, but not their rights.

In the split sheet, there is the mechanical rights percentages. This will determine how much everyone will be getting from royalties earned through digital streams, downloads or physical distribution of the song or album.

If Magix Enga signed split sheets with every song that he produced and is making money right now online, he should be getting his cut comfortably right now.

If Ted signed split sheets, he should have earned royalties from music physically distributed in the 2000s since there was no digital streaming then.

But better still, lots of old school music got digitized into platforms like YouTube or Spotify. They are being streamed now and someone is making money out of them.

Ted should go after all the streams now, and Magix Enga should be getting his cut from great songs he produced and making money now.

BUT ONLY IF THEY SIGNED A SPLIT SHEET.

Every upcoming artist, and established ones who didn’t know this, should be aware of this.

Class dismissed.

JOHN MOSH

16/10/2025

30/09/2025

PERFORMANCE AGREEMENTS

In 2023, London based Kenyan promoter Prince Otach, organized a gig and one of the performers was Boutross.

Otach made sure everything was sorted, from visas, flights, accommodation and ground transportation.

However, after the gig, Otach realized that Boutross had booked another gig the following weekend in Glasgow, Scotland, without his knowledge.

Once you are in London, you don’t need another visa to get to Glasgow. Just take a flight, jump on a train or drive there. No one will stop you at the borders, if you will even notice one in the first place.

The last time I followed that story, Otach was to take legal action against Boutross and his management.

Last weekend, Kikuyu one man guitarist Waithaka Wa Jane found himself in hot soup after he was arrested at the airport in Berlin Germany.

Reason?

From the information that I have gathered so far, the promoter who worked on Waithaka’s visa, was not the same promoter who organized last weekend’s Ngemi in Germany.

So the main promoter got Waithaka arrested at the airport to prevent him from performing at Ngemi. This is because they had scheduled a Europe tour that would be watered down if Waithaka performed at Ngemi.

So, was Otach in the UK justified to sue Boutross for taking another gig without involving him? Was the promoter in Germany justified to use any means to stop the gig?

This is where contracts come in.

Performance contracts differ, depending on the level an artist is in the industry. Big changes are always on the on the technical and hospitality rider. However, the larger framework of the contracts, mainly remain the same.

For example, there is this clause that says, if an artist decides to make a non performing appearance in places where the main promoter has not organized, then the promoter is entitled to at least 25 percent or more of the proceeds made there.

Most promoters organize the meet and greets, press conferences and charity activities just to hype up the main show. Those appearances do not count since they are part of the schedule.

However, when the artist decides to do another show during the contract period without the involvement of the main promoter, then the contract needs to be renegotiated afresh.

And it can be done in different ways. The promoter may decide to just get a cut from the performance fees, or they can get a new agreement with full fees altogether. That is the law.

I am not a lawyer, but I have consulted one on this.

Otach had every right to sue Boutross in the UK, and even stop the shows altogether.

Last weekend, if Waithaka went against all these clauses in the agreement, he had to be stopped by whatever means necessary.

I have personally not seen the contract, but I am just stating generally how it should be done. Otherwise, Waithaka and the promoters of Ngemi (Germany), if they were not in the original contract, have a case to answer.

Emotions aside.

Class dismissed.

JOHN MOSH

28/09/2025

Spotify has deleted over 75 million AI generated songs from its platform.

26/09/2025

When you tell her to learn all the scales but she keeps on transposing to F # 😭

Apply for piano lessons here:
https://mantratechnologyinstitute.com

30/07/2025

https://mantratechnologyinstitute.com/

24/07/2025

Videography, Music Production & Music Instruments Training in Eldoret.

July/August intake ongoing.

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https://mantratechnologyinstitute.com/

19/07/2025

A project from our music production and videography students at Mantra Technology Institute.

Video: Shadrack Bitok/Videography
Audio: Vincent Kipruto/Music production
Location: Eldoret Arboretum
Camera: Sony Alpha 7III (Shot at FHD 100FPS, handheld, natural light)
Editing software: Filmora Pro

Rate hii kazi muone k**a wameweza ama hapana.