Nkululeko Nkala
Rumbidzai Mbewe, Sunday Life Correspondent
IN a bid to fight piracy and have local music accessible to people, a record label has been opened at the National Art Gallery in Bulawayo that will sell local music.
The record label could be an answer to many artists as it will help them sustain a living through the sales made. In an interview, radio presenter and comedian Babongile Sikhonjwa who is running the studio said there has always been a problem in finding places to buy local music.
“There was always a problem of where to buy local music so when I asked the gallery if there was free space they said it was available, so where else was better suited and located than the Bulawayo Arts Gallery, the home of arts,” he said.
Some of the artistes that spoke to Sunday Life welcomed the development and urged other stake holders in the entertainment industry to come up with more record labels dedicated to selling local music.
The director of Umkhathi Dance Company, Trust Madolo Gumbo, said they were in support of Studio 6.
“Someone had to start this initiative and since the doors have been opened we expect more players to come in as we need more local record stores. This initiative will help get the music closer to the people yet generating income through sales,” he said.
Nkululeko Nkala who is known in the music circles as Khuliyo said the opening of Studio 6 will cultivate a culture for both artists and audiences to supply and buy respectively.
Besides selling local music the studio also caters for visual artistes. The comedian seems to be venturing on different paths of business as he is also set to open a new café, Red Café. According to him the new café will cater for people coming in for different reasons ranging from business to social meetings.