Safaricom has announced that artists and content creators on the Skiza Platform will now earn 33% more. Artists will now make 43 cents for every shilling earned on the platform, which is up from the previous 16 cents per shilling. This comes after callback tunes were exempted from excise duty.

With the Skiza changes, Safaricom says more than 20,000 artists and content-creators are set to benefit from increased earnings of 40% from all their tunes on the platform.

This increase in revenue share will be effective for all content on the platform from last month, 1^st July 2021, and will apply to both music and non-music tones.

Safaricom says the move is a timely boost for artists and content-creators who have been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic which has reduced engagement with their audience significantly cutting their earnings. The entertainment sector including the Skiza service has also been affected by reduced customer spending in the face of the pandemic.

The company also says the measure is part of its long-term commitment to the support and growth of the entertainment industry in Kenya through innovation.

“We launched Skiza in 2009 as an avenue to connect content-creators to their fans and it has since grown to become the preferred mobile entertainment service for more than 9 million Kenyans. Our decision to increase artist and content-creators revenue share by 33% will act as a further boost to the creative industry to support talent growth and sustainability,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom.

Back in November, the company announced the launch of Skiza Advertising a tool they explained aims to provide SMEs with an opportunity to advertise their services to customers who opt in to the service.

Recently, Safaricom launched Baze, a digital video platform connecting content creators and smartphone customers. Baze further provides content creators with an avenue to generate earnings by taking a revenue share on customer subscriptions.