SOS FROM ARTISTES TO PM

IF THE Ecstasy drug problem can be tackled so swiftly and with such concerted action by the authorities and community leaders, why not the piracy problem?

This is one of the salient points brought up by participants in the recent anti-piracy forum called Save the Entertainment Industry (STEI) in Kuala Lumpur.

After years of trying to fight piracy, weariness has set in. The bottomline is that almost every artiste is fed-up and exhausted because there seems to be no sustained efforts in fighting the music pirates.

In short, it has come to a point whereby it is futile to attend anti-piracy campaigns as it has been proven time and again, it is just a waste of time. At the end of the day, no extreme measures are taken and local artistes are left to suffer the consequences of this ``daylight robbery''.

So, the moral of the story here is: ``Stop talking and get cracking.''

One visibly annoyed person who is at his wit's end over the matter is EMI artiste and repertoire director Mohd Arzmy who said: ``It'd better be the last meeting. I don't think I want to attend anymore.''

Indeed, piracy is making a serious nuisance of itself - butting in and muscling its way into the livelihood of local singers freely as if the pirates have been given the licence to do so. All because officials are inconsistent and not fully committed to put a stop to this and consumers don't see commercial piracy as a crime.

It is sad to note that the recent STEI forum came across like some motivational crusade. Artistes who are badly affected seemed to be caught up in their own emotions.

The exchange of strong, heated words that evening could have galvanised the authorities concerned - if only the latter were present.

Talking endlessly about piracy in forums, seminars and meetings is so boring. A few associations like Papita (Malaysian Singers Association) did gather the nerve to try and address the problem.

Even if they failed to accomplish anything, at least efforts were made. Now the complaint is: ``We have exhausted all avenues to voice this issue,'' said Aziz Bakar, the chairman of Akademi, a music association.

``No one seems to be listening but we are not giving up. We are trying other options now, drastic ones.''

Perhaps the best efforts put in by the entertainment officials are just not good enough? Should we still be harping on the same tune? Isn't it time to change tack and move fast forward, no matter what this course of action takes?

All this stop-and-start action has only proved that the piracy problem is not taken seriously.

At least some 100 people (mostly those involved directly in the music industry) attended the forum which was held at the Vistana Hotel.

Even then, only a handful of well-known names made an effort to turn up. Where were the rest? If the artistes themselves do not show interest in what they claimed was their rice bowl and lifeline, do they expect the Government to pay heed? To put it rather bluntly, who cares?

What good is it to hold a forum when the crux of the problem now is not to talk but to address the issue, once and for all. Period.

Just look at the state of the music industry. It's so pathetic and alarming. Awie, according to singer Hattan, used to get some RM50,000 for his stage shows. That is history. These days he even does shows which pay him RM10,000.

Sales of cassettes and CDs are tumbling, local studios are closing down, musicians and composers are without jobs, many local artistes are also jobless, local record companies have folded, international companies are closing local departments and retrenching staff, and there is a sharp drop in the number of locally produced albums.

There is a drop in sales of local albums. From a high of RM80mil in 1996 to a mere RM20mil last year - a drop of 75%. It's obvious that local music suffers greatly from music piracy.

There is an urgent need to protect the intellectual property rights of artistes. The proliferation of piracy is an embarrassment to the Government. While the artistes are helpless and waiting in doldrums to take the next course of action, surely the powers that be can take the necessary steps to act on this.

Closing both eyes is like giving unwritten consent to pirates who shamelessly and blatantly steal from everyone - composers, musicians, lyricists, publishers, producers and artistes.

Speakers who made up the panellists in the forum include Aziz Bakar (chairman of Akademi), A. Rahman Hassan (chairman of the Malaysian Music Council or MMM), Ng Cheng Hock (anti-piracy RIM chairman), Mokhtaza (NAR Records general manager), and singers Hattan, Ziana Zain and Sharifah Aini.

``It's a tough job combating piracy. First it was Hapuskan Cetak Rompak (Combat Piracy). Now it's `Save The Music Industry'. What next?'' asked Ng.

The pertinent point that many of the panels raised was: ``It's time for more action, and less talk.''

Ng urged for a wake-up call to all artistes to do something really drastic so that the Government can act radically.

``We can't be polite anymore. We have to make waves. Maybe we should hold a mammoth gathering and march right up to Putrajaya and meet the Prime Minister,'' said singer Hattan who came equipped with newspaper cuttings to drive home his point.

Veteran singer Sharifah Aini felt that the Prime Minister should take note of the seriousness of this problem.

``We should have one voice and move ahead. A meeting with the PM will help solve this problem,'' she suggested.

Ziana Zain echoed the same sentiment. She felt the Government has been quite lax in handling the problem.

A political influence in restructuring this multi-million industry is vital. There is this innate belief that the Prime Minister with help from credible people should take a personal interest in solving the problem of piracy.

``The Ecstacy problem was countered rather swiftly. Surely, piracy deserves the same kind of swift action,'' said Mokhtaza.

BY ZIEMAN - PUBLISHED 21/2/2001