Dr. Umaru Bah, CEO
DataWise (SL) Ltd.
@DataWiseSL
Originally Published in Medium on February 10,
2019.
*
You get burnt if they
catch you with burnt plates of Sierra Leonean artists.
You do not pirate original plates produced by CDSA. That’s the Sierra
Leone Compact-Disc Sellers Association. Too much hassle from the police. The
CDSA is very powerful. If you burn Salone artists, the police will take you and
your merchandise and everything else to the station where you will spend your
whole day and money to release yourself, your merchandise and your boombox.
Most times, you never get back your merchandise. And you have to start back
from zero. And hope the producers loan you back some plates to sell and make
enough profit to pay back all those lost plates.
 |
| Shawski the bountiful bootlegger |
So, no. It makes no business sense to
sell pirated Salone plates. But all other plates are fine. The police do not
bother you at all. Religious plates are very popular. Gospel tops the chart. Islamic
plates sell well too. Nigerian musicians used to be huge. They are still
popular but local artists are steadily catching up. Now we are getting more and
more famous local artists. And their plate is hot. So we have to buy them from
CDSA. The profit margin is really low. Only 25% per plate. But we use them as
bait to get the customers to buy the foreign plates. Especially US films and
African films. That’s where the profit is. We make 100% to 125% profit per
plate.
Fos
wol
(Western) music is no longer popular. When I just started, fos wol music was hot. You hear them on the radio and we rush to
burn them. But now if you hear fos wol music
in demand, know that it is very popular all over the world. Only JCs and the schwen-schwens listen to fos
wol music often. That’s not a profitable market. They do not buy from us.
They have the technology on their smartphones to buy them and listen to them.
And sometimes they burn music and films from the internet and give to their
friends for free. So you see, fos wol music
is not good for business.
Oh wait! Except fos wol oldies. Fos wol
oldies are very, very famous. Especially seventies and eighties oldies. And
early nineties too. Madonna, Michael Jackson, George Michael. And many others.
I don’t know their names. African oldies too, but those that go way back to the
sixties and seventies. Old people buy them a lot. And DJs say they play them a
lot at gatherings. Especially when they want old people to dance.
Old is when you are like between
forty-five and fifty five years, and once in a while, sixty. You are very lucky
after sixty. That’s very old. And too old to listen to music anyway.
Old people like to watch Ghanaian
and Nigerian films a lot. Seems that's what they do whole day, judging by the volumes of plates their children buy from us. Nigerian films still top the chart for African
movies. But even there Ghanaian plates are catching up. They are getting more
and more popular. Sollywood is still struggling. I remember when they started,
the acting was very good. Like the Ghanaian acting today. But then they slowed
down. But it is picking up now. You see more and more of them. But nowhere as
good. They are done mostly by young guys. In fact, I’m older than even some of
them. I know quite a few. They are struggling but hardworking. Determined. Many
are forming film clubs. They pool together their resources until they get a lot
of money. Like twenty million leones ($2,312.00)! Then they make do with that
and go make their movies with free actors, free scriptwriters, free everything.
The toughest part is post-production.
But some of the boys are now teaching themselves editing with YouTube videos. I
know this guy who befriended this lady who has connections with the owner of a
very popular internet cafe, just so that he could go use it for free at night
to watch YouTube video tutorials and edit movies. First he used to do it for
free. Then he started charging by the hour. Now he is charging by length and
number of graphics and types of graphics. That guy is talented. And you know,
he quit school after BECE (Basic Education Certificate Examination). He is now
getting so popular that he is looking for a place to rent to start up his own
studio. He can’t wait, he said, because the lady friend is getting too jealous.
And besides she is much older than he is, like five to eight years older!
You could tell Sollywood produced in
SaLone and Sollywood produced in Ghana. Everybody is going to Ghana now. That’s
where the equipment and experts are to edit and package the movies
professionally. But the boys and girls here are determined. And one day, like
in ten years, they will get all the shooting and editing equipment here. And
they will learn and get better. That’s how Nollywood got better. So I am
praying for them. But no, I don’t buy them much. I wait until I know if their
plates are hot Then I buy them as bait to sell the others. It’s strictly
business.
All plates by SaLone artists end up
with the CDSA. And all retail the same. Whether good or bad. Popular or not. Produced in Ghana or produced in Sierra Leone. We buy each plate Le 4,000 ($0.46) and sell it for Le 5,000 ($0.58). Like I said. Not much profit at all. Just bait.
Business is really good. Each plate costs us Le 2,000 ($0.23). And we in turn sell them for Le 5,000 ($0.58). Or Le 4,000 ($0.46) if you drive a hard bargain. But that’s the lowest we can go. An unwritten code of honour amongst us. If not, we will undersell ourselves out of business. That’s how we make sure we make 100% to 125% profit per plate.
Customers go for Strong Cards. Feel
this. See how strong it is? That means they are original. They were pirated in
China. The audio and video are clearer and they last longer. The producers here
all burn from Strong Cards. That’s what we call the wholesalers. Producers.
I wake up at 8 a.m. everyday. I go to
PZ where I store my goods for the night. Then I walk over to a store a couple of
streets nearby. Unless they tell you that it’s a plate factory, you would pass
by it and never notice. You balance your books with the producers first and
foremost. You pay off yesterday’s loan and then they loan you today’s
merchandise. They typically loan you Le 60,000 ($6.90) a day. That’s 30 plates
a day. You can buy more if you want. We typically do not, because we have so
many other plates in our inventory. We also do not want to spend our own money
upfront unless the plate is in hot, hot, hot demand, like when very famous
local artists drop their CDs. Like Emerson or Famous or Arkman or Dallas
Bantan.
On a good day, we sell Le150,000 ($17).
That’s 30 plates. I give them their Le 60,000 ($6.90) and pocket the Le 90,000
($10). On a bad day, you sell 20 plates and still make good chop money (daily grocery money). That’s
Le 40,000 ($4.62). When you are very lucky, you can sell 40 plates! You do the
math. That’s very good money. I take care of my family with this business.
Comfortable shelter, good food and nice shoes and clothing from jongs (used clothing) stalls. I hear advertising on the radio
about saving money for college. It is only Le 20,000 ($2.30) a day, they say. I
am thinking of doing that for my children. This is very good business to me.
But I don’t want them to do this when they grow up.
I have been doing this since 2008.
That’s when I stopped going to school. I quit at grade six after sitting to
the national exam to enter junior secondary school. My elder brother was taking
care of me. But he said it cost too much and besides he needed an assistant for
his business. So at age 13, I started helping him sell CDs at his stall at PZ.
I was there for five years. I liked it a lot. But one day, he just upped and
said he no longer needed me there. That I was not reliable at all because I was
often late.
So I turned to my elder sister. She
loaned me Le 800,000 ($123) for this boombox. I got this cart for Le 32,000
($5) from a jehbu (used furniture) market. Then I loaned Le 200,000 ($31) worth of CDs. And just like that, I was in my own
business. I have long since paid back my sister and today I help her out
sometimes. I wake up everyday at 8 a.m. and walk around with the boombox
selling CDs till 8 p.m. Most times from Monday to Saturday. But sometimes I
take a break if a family member is not feeling well or if there is some
close-relative event that we must attend. Like weddings, funerals, you know.
Sometimes if I wake up and I just do not feel like it, I do not go. I just
stay home and play with the kids. I would still have chop money.
This boombox is my life. He is my great
helper. Every morning I put it in the cart, stock the cart full of CDs. Then I
turn on the boombox. What music I play and how loud I play it depends on the
area and time. For example earlier today I was at Dworzak Farm, just at the
junction with Pademba Road prison. I was playing an Islamic plate, but not too
loud. That’s because I was coming from a nearby mosque where I sold six plates!
Six plates! The Muslims don’t like you playing your music loud. They think it’s
haram (sinful). Especially plates with quranic recitations. But as soon as I
reached Dworzak Farm junction, I changed the plate to Dallas Bantan. He is
really hot right now. And I pumped up the volume.
Dworzak Farm junction is where a lot of the area man dem (neighbourhood colleagues) hang out waiting for customers for their okadas (motorcycle transportation). I didn’t sell any plate. Le 5,000 ($0.58) is way too much money for them to spend. But I liked it. It was
all for show. That’s how I relax and unwind during the day. Pump up the volume
like a DJ for my area man dem. That’s also how I advertise, you know.
I was hanging out with them when I noticed
this huge mega church nearby, facing the new road going toward old Model
Junction. Where the old road to FBC was. It’s closed now. The church is owned
by this very famous Prosperity Gospel preacher. I saw many cars parked outside
and suspected that there’s service going on. So I changed my plate to a famous
Nigerian Prosperity Gospel preacher, turned it down low and waited. Then as
soon as I saw some of them coming out, I pumped up the volume. Christians like
their gospel music loud. Then I walked quickly toward them. A few were
considering buying when a couple of security guards told me to leave. Said I
was trespassing. The real reason is because I am targeting their very own
customer base. Because the preacher sells his own plate to them for a whole lot more
money.
Oh well! Sometimes you win,
sometimes you lose.
They call me Shawski. I am 33 years
old. My dream is to become a producer. To own my own factory. That’s a small
shop, a burner machine, a tiny computer, a whole lot of blank plates and a
printer for the labels. All I need is seven to eight million leones ($809
to $925) to burn my own plates and sell them wholesale.
That’s where the real money is.
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