Arts Views With Thabani H Moyo
MUSIC is the food of life. Rarely a day passes by without one listening, watching, singing or dancing to music. Music is a facet of everything that defines a human life. Music transcends all things boundaries. It equalises races. It equalises languages. It equalises cultures. It provides rhythm to everyday activities of life. Music gives pace to the human race. However the topic of Bulawayo musicians and their music is can be acidic. This stems from lack of following by local audiences and low business returns in the music industry. Discussions around Bulawayo musicians and their music business sometimes arouses deeper emotions in many. The topic has many complexities and in most cases leaves one with more questions than answers.
For the purposes of this article let it be known that not everything music coming from Bulawayo and the Southern region of Zimbabwe is a failure. Bulawayo is home to music greats like the Dorothy Masuka, Don Gumbo, Lovemore Maji Majiyivana, Busi Ncube, Fanyana Dube, Cool crooners and many more. Currently Bulawayo boasts of such talent like Jeys Marabini, Asaph, Sandra Ndebele, Nkwali, Khulekani Bethule aka Khuxman, Iyasa and Hwabaraty, the list goes on and on.
Some of these acts have made a mark nationally, regionally and internationally. They have been recognised through award nominations and some have even gone to bag those awards.
Even with these greats there is still a feeling that Bulawayo musicians and their music have not been placed where they belong in the rung of success in terms of audience following and business takeaways. One wonders why that is the case? What has delayed most of the musicians to realise their full potential? What makes most of Bulawayo musicians to be stuck in old grievances and find it difficult to make headway in the music industry?
When asked these questions Acting Chairman for Bulawayo Musicians Association Thulani Dube responded by first highlighting that Bulawayo musicians are making “a grade internationally with acts like Nobuntu, Asaph, Nkwali and Sandra Ndebele coming with great collaborations and also getting recognition through nominations for different awards.”
This is despite the fact that musicians from Bulawayo don’t receive the much needed airplay by national radio stations and television stations. It appears as if Bulawayo musicians find it difficult to be given a fair air play and according to Thulani Dube this puts them at a disadvantage in many ways.
It denies them the opportunity of being sampled by the listeners who form part of their potential customers. It’s like these musicians are hamstrung, blocked, penalised and discouraged.
“Bulawayo Musicians don’t have enough airplay on national stations compared to our Harare counterparts,” laments Dube.
Dube sited some of the recently published top 50 songs by some national stations as ‘nothing but a joke and an insult to Bulawayo creative. Thulani Dube notes that unfair media coverage by media houses also exacerbates their already contrived status. Because of favoured media coverage musicians from Harare and South Africa will always be given a better status by the public.
The media has imprinted in the public the view that Bulawayo musicians are underdogs, stage warmers and curtain raisers. This has led to some Bulawayo musicians being pelted and booed while on stage and with some being questioned their abilities live on national television. Dube notes that it is an honour to be invited to participate in national events organised by the state and wishes more musicians from Bulawayo should be afforded that opportunity so that they market themselves.
There is another school of thought though. This school of thought seeks to push the view that Bulawayo musicians should look into the quality of their products if they want to gain traction and respect. Bulawayo musicians need to find a distinct sound or a genre that is distant from South African music and influence. The more they create music akin to that of South Africa the more they remain a shadow of their South African counterparts.
Trust Gumbo believes that instead of being quick to complain, “Bulawayo musicians must work on the quality of their music. Musicians should know that the music market is far and wide. Products should not only be made for community and national stations but they should target the African market.” This cannot be far from the truth.
Music thrives on knowing the target market and on its entertainment value. It is time that Bulawayo musicians become brutal honest to their trade of choice and target to turn around the fortunes of this region in whatever progressive way they can.
Thabani H Moyo is teacher, a playwright, theatre director and a freelance writer.
