POLEMIC: From Sidney to SINE ; Why shuffle ?

Music remains one of the few areas where people are compelled to change their names in order to be more attractive. People find themselves buying the notoriety and fame of past legends by taking on similar names in order to make it to the top of the charts.While that results in pre-album release buzz and later commercial success for some,it is a problem for others especially when they had earlier presented themselves to the public and had been accepted as such.Given the very nature of the industry today,artists, whether upcoming or established,are brands polished and refurbished by their names. If upon stepping into the limelight one doesn’t settle the name issue,then there might be problems in the future when one desires changing this name for one reason or another.This is because when an artist hasn’t amassed sufficient fame and clout, he/she does’t have the licence of greats like Dirty Money formerly,Diddy,P.Diddy,Puff Daddy a.k.a Sean Combs to command the continued allegiance of fans by shuttling in and out of their favour with different names.An artist’s name brands him in the public’s eyes  and any change of name brings along a new challenge:that of convincing the public all over again as to what you represent and offer musically.A change of name can easily bruise a fledgling reputation.In my opinion, a case in point is Cameroonian singer Sine formerly Sidney.

He caught public attention in 2008 when he emerged winner of the T.V show Africa Star after wooing the jury and the tele-viewers  with his vocal range and  exquisite renditions of legendary classics like ‘I will always love”.One can imagine the public’s yearning for his album,and in music the public yearnings easily translates into commercial success.Then,imagine the number of fans,potential c.d and concert-ticket buyers,that will keep their money in their pockets because they don’t know Sydney has become Sine. Despite the great video,”Koh-koh” is  a mid-chart hit but might have shot straight to the top upon release if the public had been sufficiently informed that Sine was once Sydney:the crooner who  won the first edition of Africa star.