"Piracy is not our biggest problem"

jonathan

March 2, 2015 2:25 PM

The rapper who is finalising plans for the release of his sophomore album has told ThisDay Style in an interview about the current problems facing the industy.

Lynxxx believes that piracy isn't really a big deal in Nigerian music.

Lynxxx believes that the problems facing the Nigerian music industry can be eradicated, but first, the artistes need to recognise opportunities and get strategic work done.

"First of all, structure". Lynxxx begins. "There is so much potential in creating a structure that would work for our industry. A lot of people say piracy is our biggest problem but it is not. For instance, an artist may drop an album today and it won’t be on iTunes for the next three months."

Lynxxx further explains that profit-making for artistes should be all-encompassing, including exploring digital avenues to rake in direct profit from sales of songs.

"He’s not focusing on the other possibilities of getting his music out there and making a profit. The artist is focusing on what he complains about and that’s piracy and his paying distributors in Alaba to get the album on the streets. He’s not bothered about the consumer who can download his songs in bed, without moving an inch and the direct profits he can make from these sales. He should be! " Lynxxx emphasised.

Lynxxx released his debut album, 'This is Lynxxx' in 2010, and went on to become the first Nigerian artist to be endorsed by the global brand Pepsi. He is the originator of Jollof Musik - a genre he describes as "an artful blend of music to create great music".

5 years on, Lynxxx is still making monthly cash from the first album.

"My first album that came out in 2010 is online and I get a cheque at every end of the month for downloads. Also, every time my song is streamed on Spotify as well, I get paid for it.

"So these are the avenues that artists either don’t understand or are not exploring deeply yet. I spend a lot of time studying on how we can get better value for our talents in this country and there are so many ways out there and people just don’t know about it yet unfortunately."

jonathan