MUSIC INDUSTRY IN ZIM

Zimbabwe is home to a rich array of traditional and popular music. This fact is all the more remarkable when you consider the obstacles faced by musicians and music professionals there. Government’s complete control of broadcast media, and its notorious reluctance to support or facilitate development of the local music industry help to keep most musicians in a state of poverty. 

Now, as the country sinks more deeply into economic and political crisis, Zimbabwe’s musicians face new problems. Long depended upon to voice the suffering, hopes, fears and aspirations of people in this country, musicians today are being subjected to scrutiny and intimidation that leaves many afraid to express themselves freely.

Piracy is also another obstacle that largely affects musicians and with many young and aspiring artist, no structure has been put in place to protect the right of the artists.Legends in the Zim music industry are just that, LEGENDS and the only left benefiting are Recording Companies.In a survey prior 2009 Zimbabwe was in the top 5 countries with piracy.

                       

In a facebook post, one of Zimbabwe's songstress Cindy Munyai mentioned that ,"The zim market tends to ignore our music when we sing in english..music is a universal language but sometimes u jus need to be understood globally" Which is in fact a true reflection of the market in Zim.Good music is produced and has good messages, however the world needs to hear our story.

Lack of technological growth in the industry is still a huge challenge. We are not yet up to standard with regard to technology issue.The world is increasingly becoming digital and artists need to be at  par with global trends.Radio stations need also to digitalise their studios and also not get bribed to play and push a certain artist.Copyright technology and laws should also be implemented so as to make sure artist have their due royalties.

For our youngsters to make it in music the industry needs to straighten out. In Jamaica the government, together with corporate institutions built recording studios which allowed the youth to freely exhibit their creative talents and to market themselves throughout the world. How many Jamaican singers have we seen in Zimbabwe as a result?

The impact of cultural policy on the processes of making music in Zimbabwe shows that the way that music is perceived and valued influences the way it functions in any given context.
It is clear that the Government needs to develop coherent policies in relation to music making and indeed in relation to all forms of cultural activities, in order to ensure that a favourable social, cultural and political climate exists for arts and culture to flourish.

Success in the music of Zim starts from support at home and even the relevant government department/s should step in and take Zimbabwe music to the world.Lets support local artist, stop piracy and stop making them live to our standards.In its own capacity music is a job.Robbing them of their hard work is tantamount to us working and someone else getting paid for our sweat.

The purpose of this blog is to push forward the music, fashion and entertainment industry of Zim to the world.Together we can make Zimbabwe relevant.

Zvazvinhu