Analysts have weighed in on the observed wanton sharing of Suffix’s recently released gospel rap album, describing the status quo as regressive and fiendish.
Barely some minutes after the artist released his album, ‘to whom it may concern,’ the few that bought it online began distributing it in music forums on WhatsApp.
“Obviously, everyone has the album now, despite them not buying. That is retrogressive and regressive. It’s very diabolic. Killer to arts. We, as artists spend a lot of money to produce an album,” fumed Isaac Msiska, renowned vocalist in Mzuzu.
Davano, a dancehall artist, described the current trends in entertainment as disgusting, saying, Malawians are not being supportive to their artists.
“Being a fan doesn’t mean you have to be following the artist. You must be supportive to him. Buy their songs so that they produce more. Don’t just share them wantonly on WhatsApp,” he said.
The album which is going at the least price of MK2000 is a compilation of about eight songs, all Gospel rap.
“In other countries, they treasure arts. They don’t pirate materials. It’s a different scenario in our country. Very disappointing,” said Chimwemwe Luhanga, local gospel Artist in Mzuzu.
Other comments from concerned fanatics on social media circles around the adverse effects of WhatsApp to arts.
Commented Joy Msiska on a post by Gregory Banda who lamented the status quo; “with WhatsApp it is difficult to control the piracy. We all have songs we were supposed to buy but simply sourced from WhatsApp groups. All we need is mindset change. We need to be feeling for our artists.”
Efforts to touch base with Suffix to establish how much he has, so far, earned from the album, proved futile due to telecommunication hitches.
