By Joe Kiarie

They sing their hearts out and pay production costs but pirates take the earnings. This has been the sad tale of local musicians’ lives.

Talented and celebrated musicians have been wallowing in squalor as pirates lead posh lives after raking in millions of shillings without breaking a sweat.

But the artistes have now become smarter: Unwilling to see their work go to waste anymore, they are now hawking their music to their fans.

Musicians now peddle their work in city suburbs to break into the rich market that pirates have been exploiting for ages.

Only a handful of local artistes have made it from the popularity of their music unlike in the West where they are top-earners. Photos: Titus Munala/Standard

And the move is proving effective, they say. Peddling of music is paying higher dividends compared to what they used to make when they sold through music stores and live performances.

The new trend, spearheaded by musicians from central Kenya, is flourishing in Nairobi and Central provinces — the hubs of music piracy.

John de’Mathew, Elijah Miller, Joseph Muruaru, Betty Bayo, Esther Muthoni, Pastor J J, Jane Muthoni, Kigia wa Kamau and Joseph Njenga are some of the artistes selling their music to their fans directly.

They have been traversing Thika, Kiambu, Nyeri, Nyahururu, Nakuru, Kangemi, Githurai, Dagoretti, Githunguri, Kahawa West and Ruiru.

Joseph Muruaru of the Niwikite Wega (Well Done) fame says it has taken a bold decision to peddle his music.

"I used to sell my works through music shops but I have decided to go this way because I was not getting what I deserve from the middlemen," he says.

"My original VCDs used to cost between Sh200 and Sh250. I have reduced the price to Sh100 — the price that music pirates sell it at. The response is good. I am now selling 300 copies daily compared to 20 or so copies I used to sell through the shops," he adds.

The new formula has double impact, the gospel artiste says. Music fans have the opportunity to interact with artistes besides buying original works at low costs.

Beaten in their own game, music pirates are now doing their business clandestinely, with the artistes carrying the day.

Famed musician Peter Kigia acknowledges music pirates are losing the plot. He vows to adopt the new ‘formula’ soon.

De’Mathew, the acclaimed king of eastern benga, admits it has not been easy dealing with piracy.

He says despite working harder, he has been earning lesser.

His songs have been receiving impressive airtime on local radio and TV stations but he says pirates have always the advantage to perpetuate their illegal business.

"They (pirates) dub the music while playing on TV using Firewire software," he says.

He explains: "Back in 1987, I used to sell more than 180,000 cassettes. I believe I should be selling more than a million copies today but I only sell an average of 10,000 copies."

And despite using state-of-the-art equipment in working on his recent album, Nengereria Kane, in China, De’Mathew says, pirates still had the last laugh.

"I produced 15,000 copies but to date I have not sold even 4,500 copies. It has been pirated and now being sold and played all over, yet I get nothing for all this," he adds.

He also blames fans for abetting piracy. "They buy the music even when they are aware it is not original," he says.

The artiste says computer technology has become ‘bitter sweet’ in the music industry.

"While it has advanced music quality, it has become a headache to musicians by catapulting piracy," he says.

"Now we have state-of-the-art machines that duplicate more than 10 CDs per minute."

Muruaru says artistes are also to blame for overestimating the affordability of their music, hence the decision to slash retail prices.

"The pirates have been outdoing us by selling the music at a low price and also taking it to the people. Normally, fans find it hard to buy a CD from a shop for Sh250," he states.