Wa Kushuka ashuke! Bien responds to Sauti Sol's haters

Bien responds to Sauti Sol's haters

• ODM party said they played Sauti Sol's song during the occasion since they appreciate their work.

• Bien responded to critics in an Instagram post saying time will reveal too much.

Bien Barasa
Image: Instagram

Lead singer of popular boy band Sauti Sol, Bien has responded to critics over claims that the group has lost 2,000 YouTube subscribers.

This was after their scuffle with the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party over copyright infringement.

Sauti Sol threatened to take legal action against Azimio over the usage of its ‘Extravaganza’ hit song in a video during the unveiling of the political outfit’s presidential flag bearer Raila Odinga’s running mate, Martha Karua.

Most people assume that Sauti Sol is going after Azimio for the campaign rally, but that is far from it, they are asking for synchronisation rights to this advert by Azimio announcing their running mate.

Check it out below.

On Wednesday, reports surfaced online showing subscriber analytics of the band's page, revealing that they had 905,000 subscribers as of Monday, but had dropped to 903,000 by Wednesday.

Through his social media, Bien said;

"Time will reveal. Wale wanashuka washuke saa hii. Stage yao imefika. (Those of you who want to alight, it's already time."

Speaking to Mpasho.co.ke, Bien said using someone’s intellectual property without their consent is stealing.

ODM party said they played Sauti Sol's song during the occasion since they appreciate their work.

They acknowledged that the band is a celebrated team and that was a way of appreciating their music.

"The group has carried our country’s flag so high in international fora and every Kenyan appreciates this."

Bien took to Instagram to respond to fans who attacked them.

"I'm reading comments on Twitter," he wrote.

"Our education system is failing us. Too many ignorant keyboard warriors. The same guys stealing from us will steal from you."

He added that they will never back down from doing what is right and distanced themselves from taking any political side.

The Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) CEO Ezekiel Mutua in a statement said Azimio obtained all necessary licences to play both local and international music in their campaign shows and material.

According to Mutua, synchronization licenses are issued by Collective Management Organisations (CMO) such as MCSK and not KECOBO, hence the authority of the copyright should refrain from commenting on affairs that do not fall under its jurisdiction.

"We wish to clarify that we licensed the Raila Odinga Presidential Campaign for use of musical works in their campaigns as per the Copyright Law and gazetted tariffs. We are therefore shocked to see the confusion being caused by KECOBO over this matter."

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