PROMOTERS FINALLY DOING RIGHT!

MBABANE – The upcoming Standard Bank Luju Festival line-up is testimony that local acts have gone back to the drawing  board and have returned with a bang.

This follows that promoters had urged some local artists to polish up their acts. Some local artists had made a hue and cry about alleged inequality between them and international acts. They complained about the lack of fair pay and being given slots which they were not happy with. This then brought to the fore the issue of the quality of their acts by some promoters. A promoter is an entity that organises events and scouts for specific venues to suit the kind of acts to be displayed on the day.

Brand

Their primary function is to bring in artists and performers for live shows.  Promoters have certain qualities that they look for in an artist before booking them, namely social media presence, experience, the passion the artist has through their music in the local scene and their brand relevance, among others.  It has been gathered, through various means, that there is a huge gap between local and international acts in terms of the treatment they receive. Locally, renowned DJ AyaCity even mentioned how the industry made it seem as though it could not survive on local craft but had to include international acts.

However, he noted that there were some changes taking place within the industry. One of these is that in the past two weeks, there were new regulations for broadcasters to air 60 per cent local content, meaning artists would have to up their game when it came to giving out content. In the same week, during the VUKUBONE Music Conference, artists were notified of the structures that were being put together to aid local artists with branding and protecting their work through the Copyright Act, which is in the process of electing a secretariat. These bodies are a solution to the cry that was raised by the first group of interviewed artists including DJ AyaCity, DJ Master P and DJ Lady Cream. They had raised a query of artists having no association that protects and guides them in the industry, especially because these associations were available in neighboring countries, which work well for them. After much needed talks and gatherings, a step in the right direction has been done to appreciate artists.

House on Fire has listened to the pleas of some local artists and has 11 local acts that will perform at the 2022 Standard Bank Luju Food and Lifestyle Festival. The first appreciation move by this entity was allowing local acts to perform on the main stage of the event and also have been given ideal slots, either before or after the main acts. Zakes Batwini and Ami Faku, both from South Africa, are some of the main acts during the event. When reached for comment about these developments and where he thought the industry was headed to and how he felt about his slot, DJ Mbo said: “It makes me feel appreciated, important and valued as a local artist. For a very long time, local acts have been treated like ‘by the ways’ yet we have worked hard in building our brands over the years. I am grateful to House on Fire and Luju Festival for such a wonderful opportunity and for trusting me with such a huge task. This means a great deal to us, and I really hope other event organizers and promoters will also follow suit for the betterment of our local entertainment industry.”

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