Malawi music spills on the street

The sight of Malawian singers storming streets with their wares could be a hint at a music supply chain gone wild. Not only does this mirror the desperation and hurdles the creative minds endure to benefit from their sweat, but also presupposes that they are not only good at voices and instruments, but also sales and distribution of their products.

When the ‘jacks of all trades’ go fetching for customers, they clog the streets with loud music where city by laws require them to seek permits from the local council first.

On a typical day, you will meet Joe Gwaladi in an unforeseen gig downtown Blantyre just to part away with his CDs at K200 each. The same would fetch five times more at OG Issa’s shop in the central business district. When the sales fall, Gwaladi speeds away on his battery-powered bike with a hi-fi-cum-loudspeaker on the carrier.

Ask him why he settles for less where more is not profane, the artist will sing you Ndangotchuka Ulere (I am popular for no penny) in which he calls himself a poor celebrity.

Unfortunately, he is not the only one who has nothing to show for his popularity and domestic hits. In his league is the reigning gospel bestseller Thoko Katimba, an accountant by profession, who is often spotted vending his wares in Limbe.

Investigations show the trend is rife on the gospel arena where Great Angels Choir, Evance Meleka, Peter Mlangeni, Allan Chirwa and Grace Chinga offload their releases during concerts.

 “Gospel music is the in-thing at present, but the crowds that follow our music and shows do not translate in sales. Surely, somebody is profiting from our sweat,” says Chirwa whose Kufanana Naye DVDs and CDs go at K500 per copy.

Similarly, Great Angels music director Ephraim Zonda says most musicians are abandoning formal distribution firms because they do not benefit musicians.

“It is painful to see vendors and other distributors getting richer while the musicians are getting poorer by the day,” says Zonda. He called for stiffer laws against piracy and government intervention in duplicating, distributing and protecting music.

Random interviews show local artists sell their DVDs and CDs at K100 per inlay to distributing firms. Tapes yield about K30 per sleeve. This is clearly a pittance, for spot-checks show the buying firms resell the offerings between K1 000 and K1 500 per CD/DVD while tapes rake K400–K500 per copy.

Simple arithmetic is likely to vindicate the tendency popularised by Mandede (real name Ian Lizi), Mlaka Maliro and Anthony Makondetsa.

But Musicians Association of Malawi (MAM) president Chimwemwe Mhango calls it degrading and unacceptable.

 “Nowhere in this part of Africa do you see musicians selling their music on the streets. The whole distribution system which requires artists to sell music at as low as K30 per inlay is illegal and impoverishing. There is need for government to establish a label to free musicians from this unacceptable system,” said Mhango at the launch of Gospel Music Awards last week.

But bestseller Katimba says his Ndidzaimbabe album is selling like hot cakes because people on the streets are enthused to buy when they see the brains behind the offerings.

Gone are the days a musician was proud to be proclaimed the bestseller after offloading about 15 000 cassettes to a music distributor who gets a lion’s share at the end of the day, he argues.

 “What does it benefit an artist to be declared a top-seller when you are not gaining anything from your sweat? I think the figures need to translate into better life for the artists,” asks Katimba.

He disclosed that Ndidzaimbabe has sold about 120 000 CDs since its launch in June. The hitmaker feels the K500 price tag is worth the sweat because he eventually sells more than on the shelf.

 “You might think this is much ado about peanuts, but we are not losing anything. Even top artists get less from the so-called distributors. We make good profits when we sell more,” he argued.

Copyright Society of Malawi told Zodiak Broadcasting Station that it is illegal for artists to sell copies without holograms from the society.