Rayvanny paid Ksh68.9 million while Harmonize paid Ksh31.8 million to end their contracts with Diamond Platnumz’s Wasafi.
Rich Mavoko was asked to pay Tsh500 million (Ksh25 million) to buy out the remainder of his contract term when he wanted to quit Wasafi prematurely in 2018 before his contract expired.
The tussle between Wasafi and Mavoko ended up at the Tanzania Music Regulatory Board, Basata, which brokered a deal between the two warring parties.
Rich Mavoko left without paying the Ksh23 million that WCB demanded. What is not clear is if he still owns the rights to the songs he recorded under Wasafi.
Mavoko accused Diamond of binding him to an exploitative contract when he decided to cut ties with the label.
However, Harmonize paid Ksh31.8 million in August 2019 when he quit Wasafi while Rayvanny paid Ksh68.9 million in July 2022 when he left Diamond’s record label.
The two musicians paid huge sums because they terminated their contract prematurely before expiry.
Wasafi triggered the exit clauses in their contracts to charge the two musicians millions for quitting the music label before their contracts expired.
Diamond was accused of fleecing Rayvanny and Harmonize after they paid him millions to quit Wasafi.
The Bongo singer only recently addressed claims that his record label is exploiting musicians.
The claims of Wasafi’s exploitative contracts emerged recently again after Diamond signed a new artiste D Voice.
Diamond denied claims he is exploiting musicians, adding that he signs new artistes when they are broke and not famous and once they achieve success in music it’s only fair that he reaps his investments in them.
“If the contracts are exploitative, why is it that these artists when they join WCB, do have nothing and aren’t known, but when they choose to leave, they do that having achieved some level of success? Why is it that when they are asked to pay Tsh900 million or Tsh1 billion (as a buyout for the remainder of their contract) they are able to do that if at all these contracts are exploitative,” Diamond poses?
The Wasafi boss further stressed that artists joining WCB are the ones who stand to benefit more than him.
“If I pick you to be signed to Wasafi then I am doing you a huge favour because I have over 100 artists who want to be signed by me. If anything, I don’t make a lot of money from signed artists, the percentage I get from them is so little.”
Diamond added that the only reason he signs artistes into contracts is because he will be investing his own money to build their brand and as such he will expect some return on investment.
“Yes, signing artists is me doing them a favour. But the favour isn’t charity because I am investing lots of millions into building their brands. I could have invested that money into farming or buying land,”
As such the crooner insists that he will never allow an artiste to leave WCB just because they feel like it is not unless one runs down his contract.
“For instance one of the artists who left, his YouTube channel used to generate Tsh48 million (Ksh 3 million) monthly. Was I to let go of that kind of money just because he felt like leaving? I have to take my share (60 per cent). This is strictly business not charity,” he asserts.
Related: Rayvanny brags about paying Wasafi Ksh68.9 million as he mocks Harmonize
