About this episode

Christine Muthaka discusses the financial challenges and realities of building a music career in East Africa.

Muthaka thought talent would be enough. Then she discovered the business side of music.In this episode the award winning Kenyan singer and songwriter Christine Muthaka opens up about the financial realities behind building a music career in East Africa. From earning 3,000 KES cover gigs at malls and restaurants to signing a restrictive label deal, producing a 600,000+ KES independent album, surviving on tiny royalty payouts and eventually rebuilding her career independently, this is one of the rawest conversations we’ve had about creativity, money and survival.Muthaka breaks down what it actually costs to make music professionally, why many artists stay financially strained despite public success, how record labels can shape or limit creative direction and why publishing and licensing may become the real future for African artists. She also reflects on family support, financial anxiety, budgeting, rejection, leaving Universal Music and redefining success on her own terms.This conversation goes beyond music. It is about ownership, endurance, contracts, self worth and the invisible economics behind every creative career people romanticize…

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