Africa-Press – Lesotho. The global health crisis, Coronavirus (COVID-19) has impacted the entertainment industry and as thus, Young Musicians Emporium (YME) Music Company Founder and
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sechaba Mokoqo urges artistes to sell their music online for survival. YME Tunes is an online music selling shop that was launched around October last
year, having gathered that Lesotho does not have an organization that collects royalties for artistes in the country. According to Mokoqo, since the introduction of this online selling platform, sales have been running very
smoothly especially during this period of COVID-19. “This is the time when sales have risen a lot as people no longer attend entertainment events. The
pandemic has compelled consumption of online content more than any other times,” he said. He indicated that during this time, people are only able to listen to new music
when they buy it unlike before when they would listen to it in the clubs. He further said the only challenge they are facing is that internet is very expensive in Lesotho so not everybody affords to go online and also Basotho are
not yet used to buying music online. Mokoqo noted that COVID-19 has exterminated source of income for everyone in the entertainment world because there are no gigs or concerts for artistes and DJs
to perform at meaning people who rely heavily on those, like mobile restaurants and food stalls have no means of income. He, however hope that this has taught them
a lesson on how to diversify their earning possibilities like selling music digitally and streaming. He said people spend a lot of time on their phones
lately, therefore, “artistes need to understand ways to entertain people yet still making them pay especially during dry seasons as this,” he said. He added
that some artistes are already hosting online concerts. One local artiste Retšelisitsoe Tikoe Mpiti known by her stage name, Maya said the pandemic has badly affected the performance side of their careers which is
their source of income and it has also affected the production of their music, “For some of us who do not have studios, we depend on our producers’ places for
recording but that has not happened since March due to the pandemic,’’ she said. She added that it has also affected their fan base in a way that “in the
eyes of the public, we have been quite and not delivering at all. ” She revealed that they had made plans to release projects or make shows to boost their
careers but all those plans have failed. Maya further said selling online would work in their favor only if their fans understood the usage of online platforms.
I don’t think it would work for all of us because we as artist will
first have to gather information of how it works and it is going to be a process for us,” she said. She said since April she has been trying to sell her music online and only made few sales because most people are not used to buying music online.
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