In the groove: Problems in the music business

with Fred Zindi There are several major problems that Zimbabwean musicians face in the industry.

Many musicians I have come across tell me that things are not going well for them when compared to the past. If it is any consolation to them, I tell them that these problems are not isolated to Zimbabwe only, but they also exist world wide.

Here are a few:

In the past, Zimbabwe’s record companies used to pay royalties to prominent musicians such as Thomas Mapfumo, Oliver Mtukudzi, Zexie Manatsa, John Chibadura and Jonah Moyo of Devera Ngwena who used their money to buy houses and cars. But today long- term record deals have become a thing of the past. The record companies such as ZMC, RTP and Gramma Records, despite their shortcomings used to give lump sums of money to the artistes at the end of each royalty period.

Today, the vast majority of musicians make no money. Some of them have quit the industry.

I recently met Pastor Emmanuel Thomas and Noel Zembe of the Frontline Kids fame who told me that they have resorted to bag manufacturing and ordering goods for sale respectively as there is no money to be made in the music industry.

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Even those big artistes who depended on live shows to make an income are finding it difficult to make ends meet. One top musician had this to say: “To pay 15 musicians on stage after one show becomes a difficult thing as there is not enough money collected at the doors to go round. One would be lucky if each musician went home with US$20. Besides, the shows are now hard to come by”.

‘’ As you already know, today’s music has become all about visuals. We also need money to organise videos for our music in order to remain relevant and these have become very expensive,’’ he added.

There’s no shortage of up-and-coming musicians making their way to the spotlight, especially during this period of unemployment and economic hardships when the music industry has morphed into an entity of its own.

There are still a few youngsters who enter the music business for ostentatious motives. They just want to be noticed but are not serious about making music a career. These are exceptions in these hard economic times. New genres — such as Zimdancehall and Urban Grooves are a huge part of this game changer, and this is where we find some of these artistes.

The arrival of digitalisation in the industry which provides artistes with pre-recorded ‘’riddims’’ has helped some musicians especially the Zimdancehall artistes to make quick recordings thus saving a lot of money but this has been also a challenge as it has put the music industry into a crisis mode.

Music consumers have discovered new ways to listen to music such as on YouTube platforms, Spotify, Tik Tok and other online digital downloading platforms without having to pay for it. This phenomenon has challenged the music industry a lot.

The era of digitalisation has seen vast changes to the way we humans connect with one another and view the world.

The gradual, yet significantly speedy shift to visuals, has also changed the musical game. Musicians are now gaining popularity on social media platforms such as Facebook, Snap, TikTok and Instagram, which is based on quick blasts of captivating content.

Thus, in order for musicians to gain popularity, they must exude a certain “vibe”/character that is worth remembering. The more enthralling and enchanting the presence, especially if the visual clip is sensual and alluring, the more in demand the musician becomes.(Look at how Jah Prayzah makes sensual and alluring videos today. This makes his music more appealing to many of today’s youngsters.)

Given these vast changes to the music industry, social media platforms are the way of the future.

Although people are listening to music more than ever, it’s occurring at home, in the office, on the drive to the store… and many other locations which aren’t hosting live music.

Even though revenue from live shows has fallen dramatically especially between the Covid-19 pandemic in the years 2020 and 2022, more people are listening to recorded music than ever before. Whether we like it not, recorded music permeates almost every aspect of our daily lives. Thus, this “access explosion” has truly transformed the way people connect to music. People go out specifically to listen to live music less; recorded music plays at restaurants, bars, etc. Nowadays, recorded music is almost always included during an event, so people venture out of their homes to listen to live music far less than they did prior to the pre-Covid-19 era.

Today’s musicians who want to go far, need the technical know-how of getting onto digital platforms.

Thanks to global digitalisation, the ultimate way for musicians to connect is via online platforms. With a mission to empower, protect and connect creators, platforms like Mubert (a new platform) are an excellent place for sound producers to enhance their music with ease. This easily navigable and accessible tool can help drive inspiration, enhance the fan base with an experimental approach and monetise samples by allowing users and clients to generate tracks for their content from their samples. The best part Mubert has created a unique marketplace where content creators, agencies and brands can connect, directly purchase and license music from the artistes they love.

The future of musical success is based in the world of technology. Not only has it affected the way we listen to music, but it’s also impacted the way music is produced, heard and connected with.

Though this has created a great many challenges for the music industry since the dawn of the 21st century, technology has also catapulted superior content production, and it’s time we musicians all hopped on the trend. You can easily get creative and make music in your home, with your laptop, cell phone, turntable and mic. Before you know it, you’ll be streaming your tracks on Spotify as well.

While the traditional rewards for musical success have dwindled in the 21st century, musicians and songwriters have discovered that signing up with sync agencies can provide a more stable path to monetising their music.

No surprise then, that sync licensing – providing music to another party to be considered for use backing film, television, trailers, adverts, games and more – has been growing year-on-year across the last ten years.

While some of these companies require the artist to sign over the exclusivity rights to the sync platform itself (so their dedicated teams can cherry-pick from an ever-growing library of what is labelled ‘production music’) others are more guidance-based and help with pointing artistes towards the right people to personally negotiate the use of their songs.

Becoming a musician in 2022 has had more trials and tribulations than ever before. The Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have affected numerous musicians during this time and many top musicians have acclimated to the “new norm” of how the music business works by means of tours, concerts, and a few sold-out shows. As we already know, the music industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic with live performance revenue being the biggest casualty.

There has still been a benefit with continuing a musical career but also challenges with the new adjustment to doing things since there may be uncertainty during these times with guidelines of putting health and safety first whilst also trying to show up when it comes to performing and connecting with supporters during these times.

No doubt, there are many problems in the music industry and in this day and age, it is difficult to run away from them. Even today’s top musicians will tell you that they were doing better in the past compared to how they are doing today. That is the way of today’s world.

• Feedback:frezindi@gmail.com