Malawi musicians cry for OG Issa
When Mlaka Maliro announced his exit from Zembani Band to form Maloto Vibrations, a lot happened.
He stopped using distributors to sell his music. Then he began selling his music in the streets and public markets. At the time, he claimed long time music distributor OG Issa offered low prices when buying music from musicians. An expose by this reporter last year, in an article published in Weekend Nation of April 28 2012 headlined ‘Who is benefiting from music sales’ proved the same.
The article revealed that musicians get only 10 percent of their music sales and the remainder is shared by vendors and distributors.
Nevertheless, music distributors such as OG Issa remain at the heart of most musicians’ success. Without any investments after studio work, a good artist was assured of getting about K150 000 (about $454) from the distributor.
Buying of master copy system at OG Issa guarantees buying 5 000 copies from an artist. A copy costs K30 and a distributor takes control of the duplication process.
Today, it is sad news that this relief is no more because OG Issa stopped buying music two weeks ago. But what does this mean to musicians?
Secular musician Skeffa Chimoto says the development casts a shadow on the success of musicians.
“I learnt the development with great shock. OG Issa was like a mother for our sales and being an accredited music distributor, dropping our albums at its shops granted us hope to make good sales,” he says.
He, however, agreed with the distributor that the market for tapes is poor and there is also no hope in CDs business because of increased piracy.
Last year, one of OG Issa’s subsidiaries, Afro Music manager Starnec Kulemeka, lamented poor music sales. He was quoted in the media as saying: “2012 was a tough year for us. Sales were not as good as expected.”
Although Mlaka did not rely much on the distributor, his music still ended up at the latter’s shops; hence, the singer said life without OG Issa was incomplete.
“But now what it means is that we have to move on. I am taking this as the most expected dimension for Malawian artists. This is the time for survival of the fittest. The best will survive and the lazy will sink,” said Mlaka, who is now into gospel music.
Musicians Association of Malawi (MAM) president the Reverend Chimwemwe Mhango says it is time to look for alternatives.
“There were complaints that OG Issa was buying our music at low cost, but still, we relied on him. Now, we have to look for alternatives. It is time for other distributors to take over, pump in enough funds and bridge the gap left,” says Mhango.
He adds that he sees a number of potential distributors taking over as evidenced by the newly opened Sound World Records Company in Lilongwe.
