New Delhi – Pirated VCDs and DVDs have dealt a body blow to the Burmese music industry. Singers and producers in Burma are unanimous in their complaint that the distribution of pirated VCDs and DVDs in former capital Rangoon and other areas is resulting in huge financial losses to the music industry.
Singers and producers are incurring huge losses because of the cheap pirated CDs flooding the market.
"The music industry in Burma has almost ground to a halt because of the pirated CDs. We could do nothing in the last two to three years. Some singers performed in concerts promoting the sale of their music albums in VCDs. But economically it is not viable," singer and song writer Saung Oo Hlaing said.
"We are badly hit by pirated CDs. We have devoted all our life to this business and career. We cannot switch to other business at this age. We are now living with hope for tomorrow," the famous rocker Zaw Win Htut said.
The sale of pirated CDs affects the creation of artistes and causes losses to producers, a producer said.
"We cannot meet production costs let alone profit. The producers and singers have a lesser role in marketing now. Currently, the music industry is not a seller's market. The prices are falling and we cannot make profits," rocker Zaw Win Htut said.
The usual price of an original VCD/DVD is Kyat 1,000 to 1,500 but the pirated CDs are sold at just Kyat 300 to 500. To cope with the price disparity, a recent album of J Nyi Nyi's 'The Best Songs' was sold at just Kyat 350," Pearl Recording in Rangoon said.
"This method is successful and we are getting a new market. Earlier it was very hard to achieve the sales target of 4,000 to 6,000 copies at the usual price of Kyat 1,000 to 1,500. The sale was not good at such a high price. But at this price of just over the pirated price, we can sell 30,000 to 40,000 copies. The market is expanding," an official of Pearl Recording said.
"We worked out this strategy to fight CDs being pirated and to explore the new market. We cannot survive with traditional strategies in a traditional market. So we changed our marketing strategy. The singer J Nyi Nyi agreed to this plan and he didn't take honouraium for his performance for this album," he added.
"We'd like to reduce the price but not to an unrealistic price. People who can afford will buy the original copy and those who cannot afford will buy the pirated ones. I don't want to blame those who cannot afford to buy the original ones. But those who buy pirated ones though they can afford to buy the original ones should not do so. They are indifferent to the plight of the music industry, producers and artistes," singer Saung Oo Hlaing said.
"I'll go the people and sell my new albums myself. Instead of selling our albums from our sales outlets, we must go to the people including the rural areas either by performing concert there or selling our new albums directly to them. I think it will be more effective," rocker Zaw Win Htut said.
"The pirated CDs are flooding the market. If you want to buy the original copy, you must go to the retail outlets downtown. You have to spend for fuel and pay parking fees. As for pirated CDs, these are easily available everywhere. You can buy these at traffic signals by rolling down your car window and buy from street vendors and hawkers. So most people buy pirated CDs," he added.
Last month, famous actor Kyaw Hein who will retire soon and his daughter Khin Khin Kha recorded their VCD album at Nawarat Recording Studio and sold it along with his autobiography and actors' guide book directly to the people at the price of meagre Kyat 400.
The Burmese music industry sources said that the sale of pirated CDs is still rampant and unchecked though the Burmese Movie and Music Association is planning to check the problem.
Though the intellectual property rights and royalty is well guarded in the world, especially in the developed world, but the market in developing countries like Burma which solely relies on the domestic market cannot be protected and controlled. So the music industry in Burma is severely affected.
