ZICCO’s Turnaround: Licensing, Transparency and the Artist Pay Rise

A detailed look at ZICCO’s licensing reforms, royalty distribution changes and efforts to rebuild trust with creators as it prepares for its 2025 elective AGM in Bulawayo

The Zimbabwe Council of Copyrights (ZICCO) has, over the past 18 months, positioned itself as a pivotal institution in the country’s creative economy. As the body responsible for collecting and distributing royalties while licensing businesses that use copyrighted works, ZICCO’s influence has grown in both operational and policy spaces. Under the leadership of CEO Dr Tafadzwa Masembura, the council has announced an elective Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for 22 November 2025 in Bulawayo—an event expected to reshape board representation and set fresh priorities for the next governance cycle.

In its drive for administrative efficiency, ZICCO has relocated its headquarters to 16A Mayo Place, Eastlea, Harare. The organisation says the move will improve service delivery, member support, and provincial coordination. The new base complements regional outreach efforts tied to the upcoming AGM and an intensified campaign to register more creators and rights-holders.

ZICCO’s mandate remains clear-cut: collect royalties from users—businesses and broadcasters—and distribute them to creators, including musicians, composers and publishers. Alongside royalty management, the council has rolled out income-generation initiatives and social-support schemes aimed at supporting artists, particularly those facing irregular incomes. These include agricultural and poultry projects designed to provide supplementary earnings.

In 2025, the council introduced a new wave of operational reforms focused on transparency, clarity and business confidence. Among these changes was a reduction in licence fees by 25% to 50% for selected categories of users. ZICCO officials say this aligns with government cost-cutting priorities and is designed to encourage compliance among small businesses. The belief is that lower, more predictable fees will reduce unlicensed usage and improve overall collections in the long term.

“A fair, transparent distribution system is essential if creators are to earn a living from their work,” a ZICCO official said.

ZICCO also revised its royalty distribution model, committing to two payout cycles in 2025. As an interim measure while it develops a more detailed playlist-based distribution system, the council introduced a temporary flat-rate payment of US$50 for registered members. The move aims to restore confidence and predictability in a sector previously plagued by irregular remittances and limited visibility on accounting processes.

Registration benefits include access to royalty payouts, protection under licensing regulations, and eligibility for social-support programmes. ZICCO publishes deadlines and requirements ahead of each cycle to ensure transparency and wider participation among rights-holders.

Despite notable progress, challenges persist. The organisation must strengthen monitoring systems to transition from general-usage data to detailed playlist accounting. It must also improve anti-piracy enforcement and deepen partnerships with broadcasters and digital platforms to harness revenue streams from streaming, online music usage and cross-border intellectual property consumption. The elective AGM in Bulawayo is expected to test ZICCO’s governance capacity and its readiness to meet creators’ expectations in a strained economic climate.

If ZICCO maintains its reforms, promotes transparency, and enhances engagement with stakeholders, it could become a stable mechanism for monetising local creativity and reducing value leakages that have long weakened Zimbabwe’s cultural industries.