Deborah Fraser
The relatives of the late gospel artist Deborah Fraser have expressed their ongoing financial difficulties, stating that they have not received any royalties from her musical works over three years after her passing.
Her son, Nkosana, indicated that the family has sought clarity from Universal Music Group, the label managing his mother’s music catalog, but has faced a lack of response.
“We’ve never received my mom’s royalties, and we are struggling. What makes things worse is that Universal Music is not communicating with us. We’ve tried to reach out to them, but we are not getting any response,” Nkosana told Sunday World.
As reported, the family provided documentation of emails that went unanswered to Universal, inquiring about financial statements and updates concerning the royalties owed to them.
Nkosana mentioned that they even met with the company in 2023 alongside his mother’s former manager, Nontando Mafisa, to discuss the matter, yet they received no further information.
He added that Universal had communicated that at the time of Deborah’s death, she still had two albums pending with the label.
Prior to her death in 2022, the acclaimed singer of Abanye Bayombona had recorded a total of 12 tracks, which the label chose to divide into two different albums.
One of those albums was launched in 2023, but the six remaining songs have not yet been released.
Nkosana expressed the family’s frustration over not receiving financial statements that would clarify how much Universal Music has generated from his mother’s work since she died.
“We should be getting financial statements from Universal Music to see our mother’s earnings, but we are not getting anything. This is frustrating and painful,” he added.
