Gibrilla Turay, aka Prezo Gibo, the president of the Compact Disc Sellers Association (CDSA) in Freetown, has said on Wednesday July 1, 2020, that the outbreak of the Coronavirus in the country has caused a fall in the sale of music and movie records.
Turay said that the Coronavirus reventive restrictions like the closure of borders and fall in tourist arrivals, now means that the Association is finding it difficult to manage its administrative structure and members because they now make few sales of musical records.
He remarked that record sales had been good prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus when tourists visited the country.
“We used to sell at the hotels to foreigners and the tourist as a means of earning our living and showcasing our Sierra Leonean culture through movies. Tourists are our main customers; but since they are no more coming, we are having little sales which is negatively affecting the Association,” he said.
Turay also said that movie producers had not been able to produce movies because of the ban on public gatherings. He said that, in a bid to maintain social distancing actors and directors neither rehearse, nor go on set.
He revealed that because filmmakers do not make new movies, they were not having many sales because most of their customers go in for new products.
He emphasized, “We are having no new products. Movies that had been produced before the outbreak are what we are still selling, and customers don’t really get attracted to old products.”
He explained that the Association is a section of the entertainment industry which creates employment facilities for youths and contribute to the development of the nation’s economy.
He informed this medium that they have helped thousands of youths across the country to be self-employed in movie and music making.
Turay further explained that, as an Association, in order to help fight the coronavirus in the country they have embarked on sensitization through movies enlightening the nation on maintaining all the precautionary measures laid down by medical experts and Government.
He called on the Government and other organizations to pay more attention on the entertainment industry.
By Ibrahim S. Bangura
3/7/2020. ISSUE NO.: 7858