Zim musicians not benefiting from online music sales

Showbiz Reporter
Most musicians in Zimbabwe are failing to derive direct benefit from online streaming of their products as only a paltry eight percent made more than US$500 from their music that was accessed through online services in the past year.

This is according to a recent survey on modes of music consumption in Zimbabwe that was commissioned by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ). The survey whose results were published yesterday, showed that 68 percent of musicians in the country are not getting any financial gains from online music platforms.

Yarri Camara, the Unesco music expert in charge of the survey said this trend was worrisome as it showed that 34 percent of Zimbabweans are consuming music primarily through streaming while only six percent are still consuming music through physical CDs.

“Musicians seem to lag behind consumers in moving online as 15 percent of Zimbabwean musicians still do not have their music available on any streaming platform. Of those who do stream their music, 77 percent utilise the YouTube platform,” she said.

Consumption of music on YouTube is free of charge.

The survey conducted last month revealed that consumers are mostly streaming music for free as only 27 percent of consumers have a paid subscription to a music streaming service.

“YouTube is by far the most commonly accessed streaming platform utilised by 78% of consumers,” Camara said.

The survey was carried out under the framework of the European Union/United Nations Education Scientific Cultural Organisation (EU/Unesco) Expert Facility for the Governance of Culture in Developing Countries and is part of the “Strategy for the sustainable development of Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) in Zimbabwe — focus on the Music sector” piloted by the NACZ.

The survey was deployed online using the Survey Monkey platform. Information on the running survey was disseminated to audiences through WhatsApp and social media posts, notably through the network of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe.

However, it was highlighted that the survey may be skewed towards urban dwellers.

“A total of 363 responses were registered off which 357 were valid respondents. The data on music consumption is quite robust with a margin of error around 5,2%. The data however, may be skewed towards urban dwellers who made up 86% of the sample.

“Given the mode of survey administration (online), the results are also skewed towards consumers who are regularly online.”

NACZ said the survey’s results are set to be integrated into a wider SWOT (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of Zimbabwe’s music sector which will inform the future Zimbabwe music strategy.