A few years ago, the debate about music piracy was raging. Artists complained about coming across crudely counterfeited versions of their works, begging governments to help them. Awareness campaigns against this scourge had no effect on the public (in bad faith), who were keen to save money. Why spend more when you can get the product you want with ten times less?

With little or no resources, the collecting societies sometimes carried out high-profile raids to show that the offenders had better watch out. But this sporadic presence was of only moderate concern.

Piracy thus flourished for several decades. And pirated media were displayed to the beard and nose of the artists, who were spending sleepless nights to offer beautiful sounds to fans who were in good faith but with pockets full of wind. They were unaware that they were condemning the entire music chain to precariousness.

Then, one fine day, the Internet arrived. Social networks followed. Their expansion in Africa created niches. Artists have seized the opportunity and now it is difficult to find CDs on the street. Many artists are now capitalising on digital platforms that guarantee them a fair wage, as well as being faster and more accessible to the general public. This considerably reduces the costs of distribution. And there’s no need to mess around with copyright collecting societies that don’t pay out anything at all. Purists, however, still have an intimate relationship with CD and DVD media, which are now considered old-fashioned.

However, the downside of digital is that it can lead to the emergence of “kleenex” artists, as Burundian singer Khadja Nin calls them. Artists who, by definition, come to make a place for themselves in the sun for a quarter of an hour of fame. They do not seek to build real careers, to develop timeless concepts, to deliver messages of commitment. They make people dance and then basta! The goal is to stay in the game…

Digital can also bring perfect buffoons to the top. Provided they are simple-minded enough not to respond to criticism, unless they have the repartee of Nyangono from the South (Cameroon). It is clear that the Internet has changed the business model of music production.

These headwinds do not prevent the evolution of African music. Better exposed to the world thanks to the Internet, it still has a bright future. These are the nuances, faces and projections that the Musical Trends Africa website proposes to present on a daily basis.

Blaise Pascal TANGUY