Angel Nkomo, Sunday Life Reporter
IT HAS been said that if one wants to make it in the music or business industry, they should always follow the money.
With live shows, a major source of income for musicians banned during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020/21, artistes found themselves caught between a rock and a hard place.
They had to find new ways of making money. Most turned to video sharing platforms like YouTube to push new music recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic peak period to try to make money while at it. It’s an avenue that artistes are still pursuing but to little value for most.
Bulawayo artiste Taremeredzwa Kwangwari a.k.a Tare True Defender says amassing thousands of views online still remains the goal.
Kwangwari is a dancehall musician and also the script writer for a ZBC TV drama series called Crime and Strings, a collaboration between the public broadcaster and Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS).
ZBC
“It’s not easy for fans to subscribe to one’s YouTube channel or follow on their Facebook page. I have both these platforms but turning views into money is not easy.
Local artistes find it hard (compared to overseas musicians who make a killing off YouTube) to make money from these platforms but at the same time we understand the impact the internet has on our careers,” said Kwangwari.
Kwangwari’s latest project is a video for his single titled Zvakaitika paVale. The video features local celebrity Ben Chest.
“We are doing well. The views are impressive considering that I’m still carving into the music industry. An album is in the pipeline but I think it’s important that I release a couple of singles, get lots of airplay,” he said.