Daddy Andre urges fellow producers  to sign written contracts with artistes before work

As music producers in the country continue to express their dissatisfaction with artistes whom they claim disregard their welfare, renowned record producer and singer Andrew Ojambo has urged his peers to adopt the practice of drafting documented contracts with artistes at the onset of projects.

In a recent interview, he elaborated that often, producers are more concerned with the initial payment from artistes rather than the long-term royalties of a project.

The Folo Folo singer explained that establishing an agreement before working on projects can secure a producer's future earnings. He advised producers to avoid collaborating with artistes who resist contractual agreements.

"Every producer should not treat the artiste as his brother or sister; this is business," Daddy Andre stated.

Months earlier, veteran producer Paddyman also underscored the same issue, noting that producers are frequently uncompensated for their creative contributions. He remarked that typically, what they receive from artistes merely covers rent, equipment, and electricity costs for their work.

Addressing the concerns raised by producers, Dennis Wantate, the founder of Omziki Distribution, remarked that the music industry still lacks adequate understanding regarding the allocation of royalties for creative work.

He suggested that producers, songwriters, and composers could also earn from a music project if their names are included as part of the distribution process.

Wantate detailed that using Split Sheet documents — where an artiste submits the names of all individuals involved in the project, and these contributors also sign the document affirming their participation — enables them to directly receive a share of the project's royalties.

"Producers have realised this quite late, but the truth is they have a direct share in the royalties of a project. Artistes need to start being fair and submit contributors' names on their projects so that they can receive their rightful share as contributors," he explained.

Wantate also clarified that artistes might hesitate to submit contributor names fearing a split in their earnings, which he refuted. He explained that the earnings for each contributor are allocated separately, and if unclaimed, music stores might end up keeping them