Story by Farai Gwaze
LOCAL musicians are raising concerns about the relevance and operational methods of the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (ZIMURA), questioning its ability to ensure fair and transparent royalty payments in the digital era.
Artists gathered in Harare on Monday to discuss the modernisation of ZIMURA operations and to chart a way forward that would improve transparency and accountability.
Musician Quonfuzed highlighted the uncertainty surrounding royalty collections.
“To be honest, I’m not sure how things work. I have collected royalties over the years, but to know how accurate it is, you’ll never know. It’s not digitised and you can’t monitor,” he said.
Baba Shupi called for a shift to digital platforms to keep pace with global standards.
“The way ZIMURA operates is archaic. The world has moved on. We need to digitise our systems. In the past, post offices used letters; now we have email and WhatsApp because times have changed. Digitisation would allow me to go online, see how much money I have earned, and withdraw it. Let’s do away with old systems,” he said.
ZIMURA, which operates under the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, is responsible for collecting and distributing royalties to artists twice a year.
Dereck Mpofu, a board member of ZIMURA, explained the organisation’s mandate and current challenges.
“ZIMURA falls under the Ministry of Justice and is managed directly by the Companies and Intellectual Property of Zimbabwe (CIPZ). Its mandate is to collect royalties on behalf of composers, both locally and internationally. We currently distribute twice a year, but our main challenge has been allegations of misappropriation of funds. Artists have gathered here to discuss the way forward because this is an organisation formed for composers, by composers,” he said.
Experts say regularising the creative sector and integrating it into the broader creative economy is key to advancing economic inclusion and the objectives of the National Development Strategy Two.
