While piracy is rampant in Malawi, it is not the only thing that is keeping money out of the pockets of their musicians. The artists claim that the distributors of their music, those who sell the music on the artist’ behalf, are guilty of making and selling illegal copies of the song without paying the appropriate royalties.
In response to this, the musicians in Malawi have begun taking to the streets- literally. In an attempt to exclude the distributors and to make greater profit from their music, various artists in Malawi have begun playing their songs on the streets in order entice potential buyers. While this new method of distribution is certainly innovative, it is not quite as revolutionary as the online digital music stores which came into fruition earlier in the last decade.
Aside from the potential issues regarding noise pollution, this new form of protest may be slightly harmful to the artists. When distributing the songs, the musicians are not abiding by certain formality requirements which need to be fulfilled by the artists in order to gain full copyright protection. For example, the 1989 Copyright Act in Malawi requires that songs/albums have a specific type of hologram sticker to declare its copyright. Many of the albums sold do not have these stickers, thus the artists not only risk unintentionally voiding their copyright but may also be subject to a small penalty.
http://www.voanews.com/content/piracy-forces-malawi-artists-into-streets-sell-music/1794610.html
