Music strategy launched

Tafadzwa Zimoyo
Senior Arts Reporter
Zimbabwe has a relatively high number of internationally recognised musicians and individual song titles garnering more than 5  million views on YouTube.

While statistics on the size of the Zimbabwean music market are still scarce, the industry players generally concur that there has been a strong growth in the number of musicians, both male and female, in the past decades.

Kudos to technology which has made the local music production affordable, with a wider pool of talent now accessing the music market.

The National Music Strategy of Zimbabwe launched yesterday at The Venue in Avondale, Harare, recognises these developments.

But is also expected to give a new lease of life and a ray of hope to local musicians as the strategy will create a robust, adaptive, creative and economically sustainable music sector in Zimbabwe by helping the music sector to operate efficiently and profitably in national, regional and international music markets.

Some of the strategy’s pillars include intellectual property, funding, financing and investment, music governance, education, capacity building and training and media.

Conversely, the strategy came out after an analysis and interviews which were carried out under the framework of the European Union, UNESCO, National Arts Council of Zimbabwe and the Government in March 2020.

The report also showed that Zimbabwe has a music sector that bats out of its league compared to other countries of similar population and revenue.

Speaking at the launch ceremony that was attended by local musicians, promoters, arts authorities and other dignitaries, Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation Minister Kirsty Coventry said the strategy was set to firmly position the music sector as a key contributor to national economic development and employment creation.

“Music will thus be a critical cog in the matrix of the attaining an upper middle income society that is spelt out in Vision 2023, as well as in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” she said.

“Music is an important tool for building social cohesion and peace, and for marketing Zimbabwe’s image. The implementation of the strategy is incumbent upon all stakeholders from the public and private sectors involved in the music value chains.”

Minister Coventry said the strategy had the capacity to unlock the inherent value and potential of the music sector to become a formidable and robust economic sector for Zimbabwe.

National Arts Council of Zimbabwe director Nicholas Moyo said the implementation of the strategy was to work for the entire music sector and all stakeholders in Zimbabwe.

“We call upon players in their different capacities as artistes, producers, promoters, sound engineers, composers, record label executives, collective management organisations and investors to fuse the mechanism contained herein to their day to day operations,” he said.

Moyo said the strategy noted that the sector had seen gender imbalance, which is common to the music sector across Africa as well as other regions of the world.

“Women musicians in Zimbabwe still face a significant social stigma that may discourage entry or growth in the music sector.

“Those that do pursue musical careers are often boxed into the role of backup singers even when they have greater ambitions.

“Zimbabwe women musicians also have less access to professional managers and, therefore, more limited opportunities for career growth. Female music managers also complain that they are often disregarded, with music promoters bypassing them more frequently than male managers to speak directly with the musicians they represent.”

Zimdancehall musician Nutty O, who put up a scintillating performance during the launch as he sang his hit songs such as “Handipere Power”, whose theme ironically coincided with the appraisal of the strategy, said as musicians they still had the energy and power to push for the development of the sector.

He said with the music strategy launched, it was a stepping stone to boost their career.

“I am happy we are all here and the strategy will now make us respectable and taken as serious artistes.

“We aim to go international and also be recognised,” said Nutty O.

“I have done some collaborations with some of the regional and international stars and this has given me the greenlight to be confident and know that my music is being appreciated.”