A sociologist
By Kemo Cham
According to a renowned Senegalese sociologist, Mbalax music superstar,
Youssou Ndour, is among the country’s billionaires.
Saliou Ndour made this revelation on December 16th, at University Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis, as part of a doctoral thesis.
Titled ”Music Industry and informal music: analysis, socio-cultural changes and economic transformation of a booming sector”, the sociologist’s thesis focused mainly on Youssou Ndour.
But he drew a little bit of attention to handful of other equally acclaimed stars, the likes of Coumba Gawlo Seck, who she said might also be cited as among the richest musicians in the country.
”Baaba Maal, Ismael Lo, Thione Seck, Omar Pene and Fatou Diouf Guewel are arranged in the same class of wealthy of this country,” he said.
According to the sociologist, the attraction of this art is the wealth earned in the business area, which in turn justifies the new status of its players. He said that these successes have led to vacations and décastification of music. Ndour went on to say that ‘‘52 percent of artists in Senegal today are singers from castes deemed noble, while 22 per cent of them are actual griots.
But despite that express reward in the industry, Ndour argues that ”the world of showbiz is difficult to penetrate.’’
He cited the adage that ‘‘many are called, but few are chosen.”
For him, the achievements recorded in this field have hidden failures. ”Few musicians manage to make ends meet,’’ he disclosed.
In his thesis of 258 pages, the new doctor covered several topics such as informal music, piracy, Internet, etc.
