Why I release music in flash disk – Kenyan singer
By Christian George
When artists all over the world are aiming at making their projects go viral on the web, a Kenyan gospel singer, Reuben Kigame said he has resorted to releasing his music in a flash disk.
According to Kenya’s Nation.Africa, Kigame recently caused ripples when he announced the release of a collection of his songs in a flash disk.
The collection box in the digital disk includes his project from 1982 to 2002, even those yet to be released to the public and is only made available on-demand only.
According to the legend, “I am excited to announce the release of all of my recorded music in digital form in one portable disk, including songs I have not released to the public spanning 1982 to 2022,” adding that “This is currently only available in Kenya on order only.”
However, the gospel artist did not explain the reason behind his decision but Japheth Kassanga, one of the most established names in music distribution in Kenya nodded to the idea as the industry battles piracy.
“I don’t approve of it. It may not be the best move but I can say it’s the only option available as of now. We have totally succumbed to piracy and the old way of doing things is gone,” Kasanga said.
Dr Ezekiel Mutua, the CEO of the Music Copyright Society of Kenya, thinks it is a bold and commendable move.
“It is an enterprising and creative way of marketing his works. Indeed, it would be important that the artiste ensures that the digital files are protected from infringement through encryption, watermarking, and digital rights management,” he said.
An online search shows that releasing music via a flash disk has been a method of packaging music elsewhere on the globe for years now.
Some companies offer methods of branding the disk to make it unique. The weakness of packaging music in a flash disk is that it makes it extremely easy to copy files from one person to another.
Essentially, one buyer can share the songs with anyone else who wants them using a computer.
“My issue with selling music through a flash disk is that you can’t control piracy or prove originality. And that’s why I don’t sell anyone’s music in my shops through this format. Anyone will buy, duplicate into a million other flash disks and sell with no proof that it comes from the original singer. There’s nowhere to sign. I wish we had an option,” said Kassanga.