CHIMOIO Zimbabwes musicians are losing millions of dollars in revenue to neighbouring Mozambique because of piracy. A snap survey carried out by The Zimbabwean on Tuesday last week revealed that a lot of pirated audio cassettes and CDs and DVDs were on sale in various market places. Dealers that are downloading the music on the internet and making pirate copies for sale.A standard pirated CD costs US$2 while an MP3 costs around US$5, depending on the musician. The dealers interviewed confirmed that Sungura music is in high demand.
We have a lot of buyers requesting CDs from museve musicians. Business is good, said a shop dealer.
Asked whether he knew that the CDs and cassettes on sale were pirated and that it was an offence, the shop owner professed ignorance.
What are you saying my friend? We have our suppliers who give us these CDs and Cassettes to sell on commission. They are nicely packed and have colourful pictures, he said.
A lot of cassettes from Zimbabwean musicians like Alick Macheso, Leonard Zhakata, Nicholas Zacharia, Tongai Moyo, Ngwenya Brothers, System Tazvida, John Chibandura, Tongai Moyo, Sugar Sugar, Charles Charamba and Paul Matavire among others were selling for low prices.
In a previous interview with The Zimbabwean, Zhakata called on governments in the SADC regions to come up with measures that would protect musicians from piracy. The popular musician said that the illegal re-production of music was negatively impacting the countrys music industry.
Piracy is a cancer and it requires the relative governments in the SADC region to come up with laws that safeguard artists. As musicians, we no longer see the significance of recording new material, said Zhakata.
The Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (ZMRA) has urged the courts in the SADC countries to speed up prosecution of people caught engaging in piracy.
ZMRA said the courts generally delayed prosecuting and handing judgments in cases involving music piracy. According to the Piracy Act, anyone convicted faces a two-year jail sentence.
Post published in: News