Chronicle Editor
Showbiz Reporter
Zimbabwe Women in Music Awards (ZWMA), an award ceremony meant to honour musical excellence and creativity among female artistes is preparing to host its inaugural ceremony this year.
Hosted by Her Tv Africa, a subsidiary of Her Network Africa, a private voluntary organisation operating throughout Africa, the awards have been introduced to recognise accomplishments by women in the music recording and performing industry. This will be achieved by celebrating Zimbabwean female recording artistes, directors, producers, engineers and corporate partners.
The awards are Zimbabwe’s first female only, music awards.
ZWMA spokesperson, Fungai Linda Mawada said the awards set to take place in November will honour music recorded and released between January 2019 and October 15, 2020. They will also honour a female legend with the lifetime achievement award.
“ZWMA will emphasise the significant role played by Zimbabwean women in music, appreciating their outstanding performance and perseverance. The award nominees and winners will be women who have displayed exceptional capacity in an industry dominated by males and with many challenges for their gender.
“The aim of the awards is to facilitate a platform for women achievers to be celebrated and showcased to the world. We hope this will inspire and empower, especially the younger generation, to aspire for greater heights in the industry,” Mawada said in a statement.
“In our opinion, history has not been very kind to Zimbabwean women in music as so many icons have been overlooked and forgotten. The Zimbabwean Women in Music Awards will pay tribute to women who have achieved success in their respective fields, have made a difference in the broader Zimbabwean music industry and have inspired others to follow.”
Event organisers said the awards came about after the realisation that there was no event in the country that recognised, rewarded and celebrated the achievements of inspirational women in music who have pushed the boundaries and dared to dream.
“The awards will celebrate Zimbabwean women whose extraordinary stories of achievement demonstrate the passion, expertise and determination needed for success. Watching Hope Masike on stage playing Mbira (‘taboo instrument’), a lot of the younger generation may take it for granted not knowing the sacrifices and fights that women of the older generation had to endure that led to that being possible. Awareness and education is another objective of the awards,” organisers said.
They added that they hope the awards will motivate locals to embrace their own music.
“We also hope the awards will teach many to support and celebrate local and not just foreign acts. It’s sad that many will pay US$100 to watch a show by a foreign musician, but expect free entry to a local act. Similar awards shows in other countries have been credited for improving support and revenues for female artistes.”
The ZWMAs are open to all music produced and released by Zimbabwean females.
Artistes will be asked to enter their music for the awards using various digital platforms although they can also hand in physical copies at Her Network Africa offices. The entries will be open from September 1 to October 30, 2020.
All recordings considered for the ZWMA must have been commercially released during the period of January, 2019 and October, 2020. Recordings that were done before January, 2019 but only commercially released during the entry period will also qualify provided that written proof of the release dates for the entry period are available.
Music that is released online and sold using digital platforms is also eligible.
After entries are submitted, a board of judges will be given four weeks to make a selection of five songs in each category. The selection committee will select music which in their opinion, is best for the period.
All selected music will be screened for compliance with the awards’ rules and for placement into the right category.
“The purpose of this process called vetting is to ensure that each entry is eligible and not at risk of disqualification and is overseen by the awards auditors. No artistic or technical judgments are made on the nominees at this stage.
“Entries will be placed into their respective categories by the committee and approved by an audit team and those that do not comply with the rules and regulations disqualified,” organisers explained.
All categories on the awards with the exception of the public vote song of the year and the lifetime achievement categories will be adjudicated by the board of judges. The board of judges will be reviewed annually and selected for their integrity and expertise in their respective fields.
Nominees are set to be announced at the nominees’ reveal on November 11. The winners will be announced at the Zimbabwe Women in Music awards ceremony that is scheduled to take place at a local hotel on November 25.
Below are the ZWMA categories:
Zimbabwe Women Musician of the Year
Best Duo/Group
Best Newcomer
Album of the Year
Song of the year
Best Traditional Music Album
Best Contemporary Choral Album
Best Supporting musician
Best Hip Hop Album
Best Dance hall Album
Best House Album
Best Artist in diaspora
Best Jazz Album
Best Gospel Album
Best Alternative Music
Best Music Video
Lifetime Achievement
Best Music Reporter Print
Best Music Reporter Electronic
Best Women in Music Partner
Online Reporter