adminMuchadura Dube
Last month, I watched the Zimbabwe Music Awards ceremony, an interesting and revealing event which ushered hope and confidence to the once despised urban grooves and other not so well established musicians.
The awards ceremony had presenters of first grade, with the usually beaming and husky voiced Tich Mataz giving full value to the watching audience.
Mataz had the able presence of Napoleon Nyanhi, the radio master, a presenter whose voice and reasoning on his Star FM slot has generated interest as his shows tackle pertinent socio-economic issues which the populace grapple with every day of their lives.
Yes, the awards ceremony had exquisite presenters, but it carried a much bigger meaning to a discerning viewer. The artistes who were to be recognised and celebrated were being given the opportunity to be noticed and to market themselves to a massive audience both in the Harare International Conference Centre auditorium and those watching on the screen.
That single event of being nominated and probably winning could change the fortunes of these artistes. The music sector is not divorced from the national economy, it is an intrinsic component of this thriving economy which is in a transformation mode.
Music generates revenue for the fiscus through a variety of taxes which accrue to the tax man. It is the opportune time for all stakeholders to take a keen interest in the developments unfolding in music sector.
Newspaper articles are abound on how once homeless and some orphaned youths have encountered a lifetime opportunity after having performed at a musical festival just by chance.
This is not limited to the socially deprived members of our society but even those who hail from financially stable families have benefited from the music industry after exhibiting outstanding acts at either well-organised festivals or backyard studios.
If the much hyped Soul Jah Love’s life story is anything to write home about, then anything is possible. Imagining that the now super chanter once dwelt in poverty with hardly any shelter over his head is somehow elusive.
To fathom that he is now living a luxurious lifestyle from a once despised music genre which was only associated with societal misfits, the insane and rebel-inclined mind points to the evolution which the country has undergone for the better.
It is a positive transformation which takes aboard the notion that a society is not a static object but rather a constantly evolving creature.
The concept of a regenerating and reviving music industry dovetails with the noble economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset), which for all intents and purposes exhorts all Zimbabwe nationals to exploit the already existing abundant natural resources, in this particular case, it is the in-built resolve of the individuals with the brilliant musical minds who need to avail themselves to budding producers who are almost everywhere.
With the various radio stations and many more about to be opened, a new chapter for all those with music at heart is soon to be opened. Already, one needs to listen to the enlightening chants of the Masvingo-born lyrist Tocky Vibes, then you realise the maturity in some of these young people.
I have fallen in love with one of his game-changing songs, Amai, which of course chronicles his promise to his mother that he will never abandon HER when his leaf turns green.
Tocky Vibes’s pastures are indeed green, do not forget the promise you made to your mother. In one of the 10 Commandments, the Creator tells the people of gains which all will receive if they honour their parents.
Indeed Tocky Vibes, that’s the way to go.
The music industry has the potential to add value to the economy in much the same way as other sectors like tourism do to the same.
It is on the organisational element which the sector has to improve for the artistes to reap their rewards, the talent exists in abundance.
The music industry has to benefit and derive benefit from characters such as Audious Mtawarira who have even dominated the music fraternity of other continents other than Africa. One could have noticed his partnership with Afrika Revenge at the Zima awards to appreciate the enormous talent he possesses.
It is therefore fundamental for the music industry to derive free expertise form this music ambassador of our nation.
In music, Zimbabwe has another potential exportable product given the millions of Zimbabweans who are in the diaspora whose nostalgia for home will be quenched by music from the motherland.
This is another way Zimbabweans in the diaspora will contribute to the execution of the ZimAsset.
I fondly remember my youthful days in high school when in one of Shakespeare’s novels, a character would exclaim, ‘if music be the food of love, let me have more’.
It is a fact that music is indeed the food of love, now given the millions of Zimbabweans who are still at the prime of their dating age, music of whatever genre if properly choreographed will have a ready audience hence a waiting market.
Music is an institution which can stand on its own in the quest to improve the livelihoods of the populace as the government expands the horizons of the economic blueprint, Zim Asset. In Jamaica, music is one of the key export earners, a feat Zimbabwe can also achieve if all the pieces to the jigsaw puzzle are assembled.
The Zim Asset economic blueprint can only be a success if the potential of all Zimbabweans is harnessed together. All the industries in their diversity play a fundamental role in that pursuit,music is an indispensable cog in that endeavour.
Online Reporter