Business –Kassangas Music Shops will nolonger continue with the business of selling music. Founder Joseph Kassanga has announced.
This is after their over three decades dominance in the Kenyan market started dwindling in all their shops spread in major towns – Nairobi, Mombasa and Nakuru Towns
Japheth and Ann Kassanga are among the biggest names in Kenyan music, and Gospel ministry in particular.
Besides being artists themselves, they opened a chain of music shops in the 90’s, selling physical copies of Gospel music on cassettes and, later, CDs. They expanded to five locations including Nairobi, Mombasa and Nakuru. Now, with streaming dominating the market, the Kassangas are done selling music since customers have all gone online.
The management clarified that, though, they have stopped selling music, the shops will continue selling musical instruments and religious items.
“I no longer sell music in my shop. I concentrate on selling music instruments and church items like Bibles, sacrament elements and so on,” Japheth Kassanga stated in a news interview.
Kassanga, who has served as the chairman of the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), stated that it was advisable for the industry to ensure artists’ streaming earnings are protected.
“Now that we have bowed to piracy and technology is going ahead of the law, we should start thinking of other options like streaming. I was in South Africa a week ago and they say this is the way to go. They are designing a system called ICRC which is a code that traces any streams of music back to the artiste’s collective management organisation or label and even bars any unauthorised copying. This way, the artistes earn fully from their music downloads and streams,” he observed.
The Kassangas made a name for themselves with their Gospel hits, and were frequently featured on State broadcaster Kenya Broadcasting Corporation’s Joy Bringers and Sing and Shine programs. They recorded their last album, Volume 4, in 1994.
They have also been responsible for helping nurture numerous talents among them, Emmy Kosgei, Esther Wahome, the late Angela Chibalonza and Reuben Kigame.
