Music Industry in Cameroun hit with Piracy
The music sector in Cameroon is fast becoming a forgotten sector due its distribution process. A look at some of the music shops and depots in some of the big towns and cities in Cameroon shows that original musical productions are not well distributed. As a result of poor distribution many artists and musicians have disappeared from the scene or have simply become less productive. Some big music distribution companies such as MC Pop and JPS Music have closed down recently.
In most towns and cities in the country pirated CDs and cassettes are the best sellers since they are cheaper and easier to find. These items are sold on the streets and strategic places in these towns. The consequence is that the original music keeps long in shops or is not sold at all.
Fedrerick Mekam, owner of “Turbo Music” depot in Yaounde said that the only problem hindering distribution of music is that of piracy. According to him, artists come and deposit their music and he also buys some.
But unfortunately business is not lucrative these days as the market is flooded with pirated items. The cost of an authentic CD ranges between CFA 2000 to CFA 4000 while original cassettes are sold for CFA 1,500. According to him if piracy were to be stopped the sector would have been booming.” I pay rents, taxes and other fares we sell only about four CDs per day. This is nothing,” he lamented.
He expressed the wish that government should put and end to piracy.
Another music dealer, Thierry Ze Mengue of Achilles Productions, also shares the view that piracy is the major hindrance in the distribution of the music in the country. He said formerly agents of the Cameroon Music Cooperation were sent to the field to seize pirated music but they were met with violence. “Many artists prefer to go to Europe and produce their music and stay there because here they are not sure of making any money,” he said. He added that piracy is gaining grounds in Cameroon because people are getting used to cheap items.
“As for the distributors we spend days without selling anything,” he said. This notwithstanding, pirated music is a source of living for many Cameroonian youths. One of the vendors of such music, Alain said he is in the business due to unemployment. He buys a pirated CD for CFA 350 and sells at CFA 500. Apart from selling, he equally gives the CDs out on rent for CFA 100. According one of the buyers, Keddi Saïdou, he buys the pirated CDS because the original CDs are expensive.
[Via Cameroon Tribune ]
