Story: Rahamatu-Lahi Zakaria || Sanatu Zambang
In recent times, northern musicians fight for who holds the bragging rights of filling show venues without concentrating on the revenue they get from sales of their music on all platforms. This phenomenon veteran reggae artiste Abu Sadiq says they are doing a disservice to themselves.
‘’Now musicians value their shows more than their works. It is like we value our eggs more than our chickens. Which should not be so’’.
He expressed this during a podcast session in the studios of Zambang on the topic copyrights in the creative arts industry in the northern region. According to the Ajelaa hitmaker, northern artistes invest much in organising shows and after the show, they are enabled to make money from the show afterward.
He called on the musicians to appreciate their work and place value on it. through that, they can make money on them at any time even when they are no longer active in music.
To buttress more on his point, he made reference to the current pandemic that put everyone in isolation. During the height of the pandemic, most countries had placed a locked-down and stopped public gathering. Due to this new directive, most musicians here could not organize shows to make money but those who monetized their work digitally were able to make money and are still making money now.
Abu Sadiq had this too when asked if he will take action against old producers who claimed entire ownership of his works during his early days of music now that, he knows about copyrights and ownership in music.
‘’Producers invest small money on your songs and take ownership of the songs. For me to go back and take royalties or reclaim from old producers is going to be some kind of battle between the producers and me and I don’t think that, will be appropriate now. What they have already enjoyed over the last 20years is okay.’’
Now, he says with his new management team, they are working to leverage on all avenues to protect and monetize his work.
