BANO SHOWBIZ
Zimbabwe is one of the countries where artists don't benefit from their art works, mainly because of the country’s bad economy and other factors.
Below is a list of factors that legendary broadcaster Ezra Tshisa Sibanda thinks could be the reason why most artists in Zimbabwe are not financially stabled:
1.Not all popular artists are broke. Those who are properly managed with financial discipline will always make it in life through music.
Wannabe artists who are unable or unwilling to work at anything else are broke. Many artists support themselves with other types of work while they are gaining experience. Artists are in fact some of the highest earning people once they have established their market. There is no such thing as a tie between art and poverty, it makes for good fiction, in real life, artists are just people, some do well, some do not. Some live in a situation where they have financial support to carry on their work without worrying about sales. People can do art separate from what they do for money.
2.Economic situation in the country people don't buy music but hassle to make ends meet.
The economy is bad, many people lost their jobs in Zim. They aren't much in the mood to buy art, they are more into buying groceries. You can't eat a piece of art.
3.Quality of some music not up to standard to attract consumers, some record music for the sake of recording hoping for the best.
4.Society doesn’t make room for artists to have careers. They prefer they have mental illnesses or other sicknesses they can romanticize after they are dead and then exploit their works by playing and broadcasting their stuff saying all good things yet they didnt do it while they were alive. The trends in Zim show that artists are recognised when they have departed from this world or have retired.
5. There are no strict policies to protect artists in Zim hence they don't get paid their royalties and there is no accountability of how much those collecting for artists bank every year
6.Unfair promotion and marketing of their works as National Radio and Television stations in Zim don't play or feature artists from outside Harare.
7.Some artists from Matabeleland suffer from identity crisis, they try too hard to imitate South African artists, hence the consumers will always shun them for SA artists. Listeners will always compare especially that 90% of urban homesteads have satellite dishes and exposed to SA and international music channels.
8.It is hard to sell art. Yes Artists are often making their art, it can be a full time job. Then when they are done doing that, they have to sell their works. That is a full time job. It is hard to put your work online and hard to find art sites that will actually try to sell your works. The internet keeps changing. The artist has to keep up with the new internet rules. Most artists spend their time on various social media groups like WhatsApp arguing and losing focus. After a while the artist burns out from trying so hard for little reward so they go broke.
9.Getting your works known is a challenging task. Unfortunately, that's the way it is in Zimbabwe, and will continue to be. I have said it before, and I will keep saying it again, it’s not who you are, it's not your talents that matter. It boils down to who you know, how connected you are and what the system thinks of you
10.Talking of Matabeleland artists, they will remain poor because there is no national recognition for them. No national radio and TV stations broadcast from this side of the country, so how will they be known in other Zim provinces when they are limited in being played because they are pushed only by community radio stations in Bulawayo? Go to Tsholotsho or Plumtree or Lupane, they don't know most of the Bulawayo Artists but know Harare artists in and out, thanks to national radio stations which push their stuff. That means artists from this side of the country will find it hard to be known elsewhere in Zim let alone host gigs in other parts of the country.
BANO NEWS 2023
