How Mdundo Calculates and Pays Your Royalties: What Every Artist Needs to Know
- Josephine Gikaru
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
For African music artists looking to earn from their talent, Mdundo.com has become a leading platform for music distribution and monetization. But how does Mdundo calculate and pay your royalties? Understanding this process is key to maximizing your income and tracking your performance on the platform. Mdundo pays 50% of its revenue directly to artists, ensuring that musicians benefit from the value their music generates.
This 50% share of revenue is distributed based on downloads, using a metric called download percentage (dl%). Your dl% is visible in your Mdundo artist account and reflects the proportion of total Mdundo downloads that your music contributes. For example, if Artist XYZ accounts for 1% of all downloads on Mdundo in a given period, that artist receives 1% of the 50% revenue allocated to musicians. This system is similar to how major streaming platforms and radio stations calculate royalty shares — it's performance-based and transparent.
One important factor to understand is that the payment per download is not fixed. The amount you earn can vary from one payment cycle to another. This fluctuation is influenced by two key factors: the number of active advertisers on Mdundo and the total volume of downloads on the platform. If advertising revenue increases or the number of total downloads drops, the price per download rises. Conversely, if advertising revenue decreases or downloads increase significantly, the payment per download drops.
This means your royalty earnings are tied not just to your own performance, but also to the overall financial health and traffic on Mdundo. It’s in every artist’s interest to help grow the platform by promoting their music, driving more engaged listeners, and supporting Mdundo’s ad-driven model. More advertiser engagement typically leads to higher earnings for all artists on the platform.
Mdundo offers a fair, performance-based royalty system that rewards artists for their popularity and contributions. By understanding how your dl% works and the factors that affect your royalty rates, you can better plan your releases, promote your music, and maximize your earnings. With transparency and artist-focused policies, Mdundo remains a powerful tool for music monetization across Africa.