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Richard Kohola Special Correspondent
The Zimbabwean music product has developed so much over the past 10 years and has become very competitive locally, regionally and even across the deep seas.
As a radio presenter/Deejay it’s such a joy to play home grown music on my shows week in and week out.
I have personally seen the rise of many names in the music game who today are super entertainment brands. I know some people still feel like we play more international music on radio but the truth is the level of our music is just that good.
Unfortunately the playing field beyond our borders is not fair and does not favour foreign material content. Given that the world was a fair playing field I can bet my last dollar Zimbabwean musicians would come tops.
As I share this piece allow me to thank every radio station, every platform that has been doing the most to tell the Zimbabwean music story, every producer for the creative energy you are putting in the music and every artiste for the way you are working on your brands. Video directors you are doing an amazing job, stylists, makeup artistes, choreographer’s and set designers etc.
Special highlight for me in 2021 is the resurrection of Roki by the prayers of Passion Java. Hate him or love but he is up to something. Lest I forget, driving a Jeep powered by Zimoco does not come easy, it tells of quality of work and value that one has gained on the market “brand equity”. Listen look around and see that the fields are ready for harvest. Let’s go in and make 2022 our year.
Imagine I get a call this one morning, the caller asks me are you so and so’s manager and I reply yes I am how can I help you. Oh well we have an event that is coming up at the end of this month and we wanted to hire the services of your artiste.
Ok that’s great I reply, thank you for your consideration please advise me on dates, the time you would like the artiste to arrive and time of performance and your expectations.
We want a 45-minute performance and the event is hosting all our clients and . . .
We agree on all the requirements, then he asks, how much will it cost to hire your artiste? With no hesitation I tell them the price and that’s when the discussion turns upside down.
‘‘Hey that’s too much boss mmm I wasn’t even thinking you would charge us that much after all it’s only a 45-minute performance, we are also providing you with meals for the band, please can we adjust your amount.’’
Let me pause my story here and say, to every organisation from Government departments, non-governmental organisations, corporates and the business community at large the musicians are being robbed of their value by the so-called middleman, event organiser, agency that you are sending to either represent you in most of these event deals.
A lot of times I wonder whether you are in touch with the work and progress that artistes are making and whether you feel like it’s a favour you are giving them to perform at your event.
The treatment, when it comes to money, leaves a lot to be desired and to make matters worse the process of getting paid is just a mission and a lot of managers wonder why.
Ok let me continue with my story.
So I ask how much do you want to pay, ah you know what I was working with a budget of . . . that’s what we can afford, that’s what my client can pay, after all its not a whole day event .
Oh OK. Let me again pause here and say wow wow wow it’s such a shame to be an artiste in Zimbabwe because someone decides your value and they definitely demonstrate that they don’t respect you for what you are bringing to the table. As much as they want you to facilitate for their promotions and campaigns they look down on you and treat you like trash, because if they valued you from a proper business point of view then here is what they should have done in the first place and I wish to propose.
As the year begins and most organisations finalising your events budget before putting figures, numbers to the amount for your engagements with the entertainers please research and ask around.
The best is to call the managers of the different artistes that you may want to work with and hear what they have to say. It’s so disrespectful to just pull numbers from the air and conclude your events budget and accord artistes an amount that you feel. It’s not about your feelings it’s a professional deal, treat it as such.
I work closely with many musicians and I have an appreciation of the work they put in for you to enjoy just one song. The reason you have chosen this artiste is because you love what they do, that automatically should make you pay them well. If you don’t see value in any artiste then don’t call but if you see value please be ready to pay the bill and stop tripping.
On another note I must say the word exposure is dying away in Zimbabwe today. Rarely do you get someone wanting an artiste to perform for exposure. We appreciate this even though the money is peanuts thank you for not taking the musician for granted. Cheers to a great 2022 for every musician. May you be paid your worth, value for value!
Online Reporter