Leading hospitality player, Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG) is in a bid to empower local artists to be able to manage their music as a business through its Gateway stream music application.
Speaking during the Gateway stream music empowerment workshop held in the capital yesterday, RTG Commercial Director Shupai Marware said the application will take artists through the steps of understanding and training, them to create businesses for themselves.
“So we need to make sure that we preserve our culture, we preserve the art, we preserve the capabilities that we have as a society.
“Today we are much more honoured to have the great musical talent that graces our country, that is all of you here and we believe we are walking through the steps of greatness in the future together.
“You never know how much of a businessman you are, how much of a business person you are until the only option left is for you to be business people and that’s what we want to do.
“It’s an app that is putting up to 7 facets together. You’ve got your audio music in there. You’ve got your video. You’ve got socialization because it’s the only platform where you can also talk to your fans.
“You can post photos, videos- you talk to them they can respond. So it’s important for us to be talking to our market,” he said.
He added that the gateway stream is an app with 9 sub-apps which include online shopping, grocery shopping, hardware, hotel accommodation, leisure activities and many more.
Speaking during the same event A and R manager for Sony/ATV Music publishing South Africa Munya Chanetsa also emphasized the need for artists to treat themselves as brands for them to enjoy optimum returns of their music.
“Music is business, if you don’t see music as a business, if you don’t treat music as a business trust me you will not have a long lasting career.
“Music is what drives the brand. There are key things that you are supposed to have in place to make sure that you are doing things properly. Number one is getting exposure, number two radio and tv sampling, when you have a song make sure it’s on the rotational form, radio is still the most powerful medium on this continent.
“Public relations is to make sure that your music is in all the right places, you are doing the right interviews, you are at the right events.
“Distribution makes sure it’s available, the moment that l hear your song on radio l should be able to google the song name. l should be able to see where l can get it,” he said.
Zimbabwean internationally acclaimed and award winning Afro-fusion group Mokoomba Manager Marcus Gora, commended the effort by RTG saying the initiative will broaden opportunities for local artists who have been facing gate keeping challenges from other mediums such as radio and newspapers.
“l would like to thank Gateway Stream for such a gesture as it broadens our opportunities on its platforms.
“As artists, we have been facing a gatekeeping challenge in Zimbabwe. Now we need gatekeepers that we trust with our music, so the moment Getway stream seems to favour others, you will lose the power that you have to be a neutral aggregator, a place where people can find every music produced by local artists from different places,” he said.
Musicians constitute the majority of what are considered celebrities locally and this speaks to how influential they are considered to be. Often times we have heard musicians bemoaning how hard it is to make it in the local music industry.
Zimbabwe has had world acclaimed musicians, the likes of Thomas Mapfumo, Oliver Mtukudzi , Chiwoniso Maraire Jah Prayzah and others. These artists have made their mark and made names for themselves in the music industry.
According to Gateway Stream Project Manager Isheanesu Makambira, the main objective of the application is to empower upcoming artists, to give them access to markets as well as taking control of their content on how they get paid.
