Piracy hits Malawi’s artists Lucius, Makondetsa
Malawi’s musicians Lucius Banda and Anthony Makondetsa have complained of pirated copies of their music ahead of the launch of their albums.
Lucius has since fast-tracked the release of his album, Time, which was scheduled for April. He said the album will be out next month.
“They have compiled seven of the songs in my album. The songs were in a flash that was stolen when my car was involved in an accident last year. These are very raw songs. I have raised concerns with police and Cosoma [Copyright Society of Malawi],” said Lucius.
The Balaka artist said he will be in South Africa next week to finalise work on the album, which will be released without the videos, as previously planned.
“It’s very unfair. This way, how can musicians develop? How can we invest more in music? Since the flash was stolen, those caught with the music will also be charged with theft,” said Lucius.
On the other hand, Makondetsa said he is working to bring to book pirates who have copied four promotional songs, mixed them with older songs and selling them as his Fuko Lokondedwa album.
“They are mixing the new songs and old ones. We have leads towards some pirates in Liwonde. We are investigating. This is a let-down,” said Makondetsa, who will launch his album in Lilongwe on March 3.
