Some associates of mine would argue that this post I’m making is unnecessary and I shouldn’t address it here. Others argue that with my vast reach on social media this is exactly where I need to address this Mwalimu/Sailors YouTube issue. I’m doing this to make things clear for my sake as well as my company’s – MRX Media Ltd.
On 5th April 2019, I uploaded Sailors first video Wamlambez, that as we all know became an instant hit and went viral. This was after Sailors had approached me to promote and boost them as artists. Later on they wanted me to manage them, which I started doing through my company- MRXMedia LTD. A few months later we were able to upload more videos and that’s when speculation into why they don’t have their channel started. We had an agreement that we would upload 5 of their videos (that the company paid for) then later on open their own channel. So while I was being bashed online, we knew the plan we had in place- it really didn’t bother me. Come 17th July 2019, I started the official Sailors YouTube channel. This was amidst pleas from Sailors not to do so as they were already enjoying the views and subscribers on my channel that yes, the music videos had attracted. I had to convince them that they needed their own channel and in time they would gain even more subscribers than me. They reluctantly agreed. And so I started the channel from scratch, went to NGOMMA to have them in charge of collecting royalties and protect their content on YouTube.
In October 2019, a certain record label approached my team about signing Sailors. After much deliberation and consultation we thought it would be a good idea to involve them in distribution of their music. We alerted Sailors. We were now as Sailors management having talks and looking at the contracts given to us by this record company. We had asked for certain, very important clauses to be changed in the interest of Sailors because we all know getting in bed with record labels can be tricky. Mind you, this was just as Corona hit and this is where things went south. While we were in the process of all that, Sailors, led by Miracle Baby, approached this record company and signed a deal with them. Without my knowledge. I was just told by one of the record company’s rep that contracts had been signed and it was a done deal. Wow. Just like that. Ok… Did they even know what they were signing? Did they take the contracts to a lawyer? I highly doubt that but, no need to cry over spilled milk. It was done. Before long a song and video was done by the record company and I uploaded it on their channel, while trying to see how best to work with this new entity. The problem came when they wanted Sailors log in’s to their social media platforms, including YouTube.
As a business, that has no binding contract or agreement with a third party, would it really make sense to just hand over log in’s? The simple answer is, no. This record label saw it fit to ask me to sell them the YouTube channel for 100K. As a way of getting them off my back I said the estimated value of that channel and the work my team and I put in it, is 1.5 Million (I’m starting to think I underquoted lol) I was charging the record label that wanted to take ownership of this channel, NOT Sailors. Let’s be clear on this part. I am very ready to cut cords with Sailors, after all it’s just business, nothing personal, but I know theres a proper way to do it. I’m not trying to “hold on” as many would argue. I am simply doing what’s best for my company and the investment we put into them. You don’t simply hand over log in’s and other sensitive material simply because your artist has “moved on”. Equity, Ownership and Return On investment. Read up on that. Hiyo ndio homework kwa sasa.
A big thank you to the MRX Team that has brought us this far. I am still uploading upcoming artists videos on Mwalimu Rachel TV (and yes there is a release form for this) So if you are interested, shoot us an email on [email protected] with the video you’d like us to upload. Many thanks to the artists who have reached out to be managed by my company, a big announcement coming soon!
Yours, Mwalimu Rachel.
