Choosing between Sports and Music

I was recently embroiled in a hot debate on whether sports and music is more financially rewarding. One person argued that music is more lucrative because artistes earn a lot from their video sales. As the debate raged, an interesting argument was advanced about the setback of banking on the sale of videos to get big returns. The moment an artist releases the first video, that very day in the evening, more copies than the owner produced shall have been produced by piracy masters. At the end of the day, the greatest beneficiaries are those who never had a hand in the music production. Indeed, most of the CDs that people play in their cars and homes are not original. Interestingly, even the copied CDs and DVDs have the anti-piracy warning that in itself, has no executive authority to prosecute those who duplicate it. One needs not go to a music store to buy a DVD nowadays. You just need a flash disk to copy it from a friend’s computer. Many musicians make money from concerts abroad. It is unfortunate, still, that local concerts in the third world countries don’t pay off as a result of low turnouts and low entry charges. The love of ‘foreign’ products is another devastating factor that has always dogged the already distraught music industry in the third world countries. ‘Reaping where you never sowed’ or, ‘feeding a cow for someone else to milk’ are sayings so sharply relevant to the rogue practices that are rife in the highly malleable music industry. An artiste works so hard, composes music, spends a fortune on production and another person just spends one minute to burn CDs and make a fortune out of it in the span of five minutes. What a big shortcut. Copyright regulations have always been flouted while authorities have helplessly watched or done very little to reverse the ruinous situation. As a result, the flourishing of the music industry is at stake. Many talented musicians have been compelled to down their tools of trade to seek alternative sources of income. A good number have abandoned the jinxed industry. It is in this view that one argued that it is better for the youth to focus on sports. At least, according to the anonymous commentator, the talent to run, play soccer or basketball cannot be subjected to piracy. You are either there in person or not. You have to receive the payment or otherwise. This sounds selfish but attractive as your effort and mostly energy, are rewarded directly. Recently, the Cameroonian soccer player, Samuel Eto’o signed up with a Russian football club and hit the ranks of the most highly paid soccer star in the in the world. It is for this reason that a strong sporting culture should be instituted in schools and be diligently enforced. An elaborate system of identifying and nurturing different sport talents should also be in place to expose talented children that are vegetating out there, into the limelight. There is a bright future in sports and music if necessary support is granted. znyamosi@yahoo.com