Last month WIPO commissioned author David Stopps delivered his renown presentation on making it in the music industry to jam packed audiences in both Nairobi and Mombasa.
As Director of Copyright and Related Rights for the Music Managers Forum UK and the International Music Managers Forum, Stopps is also the MD of Artist Management Company FML, a member of the British Copyright Council, and the United Nations representative for The International Music Managers Forum at WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Organisation) in Geneva.

Putting the matter of intellectual property rights (IPRs) into their international context, David Stopps presented a history of the music business and how copyright has developed, albeit in varying ways, for songwriters and performers around the world. He emphasized the principles of copyright and how developed and self-sustaining creative industries can positively impact the Kenyan economy.

Some of the other topics Stopps covered were:

• International treaties and how they affect Kenya
• Income streams available to musical authors (songwriters) and performers (musicians and singers), including from: 
  • playing live
  • collective management organisations
  • publishing and recordings
  • sponsorship and branding
• Artist management agreements and the issue of commission rates
• How to make money from: playing live, including issues around touring, visas, carnets, witholding agreements, tour managing, production, freighting and festivals
• Publishing agreements, mechanical royalties and mechanical licences, public performance royalties
• Synchronisation licences
• Recording agreements and the ins and outs of music videos
• Making money from film, TV, advertising and video games
• How to sell your music online and the importance of mobile apps and social networking

Rounding off the two day workshop was an animated discussion about the future, or in the case of developing countries - 'monetising the anarchy'. Here, discussion was based around how the Kenyan government and the music industry can prevent and/or monetise piracy in the physical and on-line environment.

Angela Ndambuki, General Manager of the Performing Rights Society of Kenya (PRSK) was one of many from the Kenyan music industry who effectively relayed the Kenyan music sector's opportunities and challenges. Other representatives included the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), the Kenya Copyright Board (KCB), and the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Trade and Industry, Eng. Abdulrazaq Adan Ali.

"We would just like to tell you how thrilled we were to attend your inspirational seminar on ‘How to make a Living From Music’ in Mombasa. However great we thought our dream, you showed us a grander one, creating possibilities for new realities that none of us realized even existed! We know we speak on behalf of all those that attended this two day seminar and would like to humbly thank you and the British Council for reaching out to Mombasa artists and making this awesome event a reality. We are buzzed with happy talk, walking on happy feet, and obsessed with one thing and one thing only... the possibilities, the challenges, the adventures, oh and did I mention the glory of my bank account lol? Please know how much your efforts meant to all of us, I hope we may repay it in kind one day. Miles of sunny smiles, Jacquelin & Peter Tomaschko"

Check out some of David's presentation here and former Creative & Cultural Economy intern Joao Loureiro's paper on Kenya copyright and the music sector.