ABOUT two weeks ago there were media reports on complaints from some musicians on the increasing levels of piracy.
Apparently, strong views on the vice were echoed by the artistes during a workshop that was orgainsed for them by the Zambia Association of Musicians (MAZ) and some stakeholders.
Some musicians blamed the increased piracy on politicians who they accused of failing to take action against vendors who they regard as potential voters.
Recent statistics revealed that the problem of piracy in this country is far from being overcome despite efforts by the Government and other stakeholders.
This can be attributed to the mushrooming of “backyard studios” and the increased numbers of small computer business centres.
I strongly feel that the solution to this problem can not entirely rest on law enforcement agencies and the application of intellectual property and copy right laws.
Rather the solution to this problem is in the establishment of proper marketing firms, purely dedicated to the promotion and marketing of music and movies.
I know that we have a few music marketing firms around, who are doing remarkable work.
However, the rate at which the music and film industry is developing necessitates the establishment of more marketing firms to handle the needs of the artists as and those for the consumers.
Music and movie marketing firms have proven to be instrumental and effective in Western countries in promoting artists and curbing piracy.
In the United States for instance, music labels are a prominent feature.
Most American artists promote and market their works through established music labels.
Companies like Motown Records have dominated the music industry in the US for many decades and have been associated with many internationally acclaimed artists.
Of course there are now more new players in the industry which include names like  Bad boy, Convict, Dark Child, Cash Money, Rockefeller, Sony Records and Maybach to mention just but a few.
It is the responsibility of these music marketing firms, once an artist has signed a contract with them, to produce, package, distribute and promote his or her music.
By engaging a music marketing company, the artist leaves the company with the responsibility of handling everything including copyright issues.
Having such arrangements makes it extremely difficult for any form of piracy to take course. Remember that piracy usually takes place at the point of production and distribution.
If artistes do not use credible people to produce and distribute their works, they face a high risk of having their works land in the hands of unscrupulous people.
This is so much the case for most Zambian artists who have been victims of piracy.
Due to the lack of adequate music and film marketing firms, our musicians are left with no option but to engage the services of non-professional music producing studios that usually have no regard for confidential rules and copyright issues.
It is these same people who promote piracy as they would like to multiply their income.
When you take a walk along the streets of Lusaka you will come across vendors trading in pirated music and movie CDs and you cannot help but to wonder who their suppliers are.
I took an initiative to interrogate one vendor who said that a named music production studio was their supplier.
The unfortunate part is that the proceeds from the sales of these pirated products hardly benefit the originators but at the same time present a serious challenge to the marketing efforts for the original works.
This state of affairs, if not corrected, will leave most of our Zambian artists in poverty, as they will not have benefited from the fruits of their hard work, while the pirates continuously earn profits for doing nothing but exploiting other people’s efforts.
As a marketer, I feel a sense of obligation to try and address this problem through this platform with the hope that some stakeholders who may have the resources to set up marketing firms, which should ultimately help to resolve this problem, can act.
Piracy should be treated as a marketing problem which emanates from the principle of demand and supply.
Putting it succinctly, there is a market out there for music and other forms of entertainment; while on the other hand, there are few distribution channels or selling outlets.
This state-of-affairs depicts a monopolistic situation which leaves the few music marketing firms to determine the pricing.
Resulting from this is the desire for the Zambian music lovers to get the most affordable music products.
Under such circumstances it can only be pirated music.
The situation is even more complex given the highly digitalised environment we are now operating in.
The computer age has made things much easier for the pirated music while making it difficult for the genuine owners to market their products.
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