Zim music labels fading out

Bruce Ndlovu
Last week music lovers were hit with the news that Gramma Records, one of the countrya��s biggest and oldest music labels, was up for sale.

Gramma is up for sale together with its sister companies Zimbabwe Music Corporation (ZMC), Ngaavongwe Records and Records and Tape Promotions, all respectable and big music stables in their own right.

The death of Gramma and other big record labels in Zimbabwe has been an inevitable occurrence, as since the turn of the century the countrya��s major labels have failed to adapt to the changing musical landscapes that have been created by the easier access to music and the resultant piracy.

In its heyday Gramma provided the countrya��s artistes with facilities that they could not get on their own, while they also marketed and distributed their products.

With new technology and social media artistes can now afford to produce and market their music on their own hence the value of record labels has also decreased.

While other big record labels have moved away from the reliance on the sale of physical copies of albums, this has not been the same on the Zimbabwean music scene where piracy virtually crippled the whole industry.

The bedroom studios which have made overnight stars have further taken away the shine from studios that failed to transition into the new era of Zimbabwean music, having been absent during the urban grooves era while also missing the current Zim-dancehall gravy train.

One artiste who saw Gramma Records at its peak was Alick Macheso, who is distributing his new album through Nash Paints and the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society.

The decline of Gramma is even more remarkable against the background that it was only 13 years ago when it celebrated Machesoa��s Simbaradzo album, the highest ever selling album with over 300 000 albums sold.

For Macheso himself, the death of Gramma makes for sad reading.

a�?You never expect that because these are giants in the countrya��s music scene. Ita��s sad but what they have done can never be erased,a�? he said.

Macheso, who has said that his latest album will also be targeting digital sales, added that change necessitated that artistes also change the ways they market and distribute their music.

a�?We cana��t fight technology so the only thing is to use it to our advantage,a�? he said.