DJ Sbu says children of artists should be able to live off their parents' legacy

After announcing that TS Records will hand over ProKid's masters to his family last week, DJ Sbu has sparked a conversation on social media about artists dying "poor" and how their children are often left destitute, despite having had famous and "rich" parents.

"Artists work all their lives and then after they die they have nothing to show for their hard work, this should be the last thing that happens to artists because art never expires. 10 years after you record a song, for example it is still something that should be making you money. This is why it is ridiculous that artist "die poor" or leave their children with nothing," Sbu told TshisaLIVE.

The entrepreneur explained that the norm for artists to "die poor" or have nothing to leave for their children, was something that could be changed. He gave an example with Rob Mally, the late Robbie Malinga's son and his interest in entertainment.

"Robbie Malinga junior for example already has an interest in this industry and what is nice about Robbie Malinga is the fact that he owned his music catalogue. We know at some point he will want to do things with his father's legacy, his music."

Sbu said the problem began a long time ago with the kind of deals major record labels offered. He said as far as business went, the deals were always more beneficial to one party over the other.

Now a wiser businessman, DJ Sbu reflected on the late iconic artist Mahlathini.

"For example, my uncle Mahlathini, who had a band called Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens. If the record company back in the day did the same with him, as in gave the family complete rights to his work after his death, imagine what I could do with his music right now. With the knowledge of the industry that I have, I would have been exploiting his music for the family benefit. Unfortunately, we don't have the rights to the music and we don't even know who does."

DJ Sbu said generational wealth required parents to plan with their children in mind.  

The DJ, who is also raising a daughter, said he hoped for his child to have a starting point should she ever show interest in music when she's older.

"The most likely thing is our children will fall in love with the art and they will be educated enough at some point to want to capitalise on the art of their parents. You, know to exploit the music however they want to. They should be able to do that, to have a jump start or at least a starting point that comes from the artist the father or mother was."