Beat Bulletin May 2017

Durbanites are often incorrectly seen as being distant when it comes to participating in activities related to the music industry. Sure, when SAMRO announced that its May CEO Music Industry Roundtable was going to the beautiful coastal city, the response, by way of RSVPs, was gradual. But by the morning of 19 May 2017, the Durban Playhouse was teeming with eager musicians, music producers and industry personnel.

Our panel of experts on stage included SAMRO’s Acting CEO Rev Abe Sibiya, Gagasi FM music compiler Mario Kunene, Thando Nyameni – General Manager at the KwaZulu-Natal United Music Industry Association (KUMISA), Nothando Migogo – CEO of the Composers, Authors and Publishers Association (CAPASSO), Stephenson Mhlanga, SAMRO’s EGM Sales, Prince Bulo – producer at Afrotainment and Victor Mampane, Publisher Services Consultant at SAMRO.

The aim of the discussion was centred on SAMRO membership and distribution of royalties, music consumption in the country, and music airplay. The latter found Kunene at the centre of a heated debate about how stations choose music for play listing. Kunene however stressed that Gagasi FM has a music testing strategy, which then informs what music makes it onto the station’s play list.

“This roundtable session taught me that apart from the things that artists are dealing with, there are a lot of things that we need to get right too,” said Kunene.

“I realised what it is that we need to tackle as a radio station. We hope we can work better with artists. I also managed to share a few tips with budding musicians – it is important that they know, when sending their music for play listing, that there’s a criteria that we need to adhere to. Similarly, they need to understand the type of station they’re sending their music too.”

Bulo, who is also the winner of the 2014 SAMRO Overseas Scholarship competition for composers, was surprised by the attendance. “What a vibe! People came out in numbers. Some had to be turned away because the venue was packed, but it’s nice that people are hungry for information – we gave them as much as we could and the best way that we can. I hope they continue to seek it, and that people continue to support local music. Big up to SAMRO.”

SAMRO would like to thank attendees for the tremendous turnout. We would also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our media partner, Gagasi FM for all the support the station provided in assisting us with media covering that ensured that we host the most successful roundtable event to date.

Stay tuned to Beat Bulletin for details of the next session!

There was a time in the early 2000s when music concert DVDs were the best musical collection one could ever own. Consumers wanted to have tangible material to keep of their favourite musicians – they wanted to know more about their idols and watch their musicians recorded performances.

But there have been signs for a while now that music DVDs have somewhat become a thing of the past. Consumers appear to have moved on. But where to and why?

Some of the biggest names in the music circle who have enjoyed highly successful worldwide tours, have opted not to release tour DVDs anymore – once a certainty for fans. Beyoncé for instance, opted to sign a deal with TV network, HBO to screen her hour-long special showcase in support of her latest album, Lemonade. Thanks to rap mogul Jay-Z’s Tidal platform, shows featuring Beyonce and Rihanna among others, concerts are now streamed online to subscribers.
In some instances, full concerts can be found on YouTube – even if there are legal question marks around it.

Lira’s Captured Tour DVD was initially released to the market before it was syndicated across TV stations including Mzansi Magic and MNet. Locally, Simphiwe Dana clinched the deal with BET Africa to premier her The Simphiwe Dana Symphony Experience concert.

Lira has been on record as saying she had to fork out sizeable amounts of her money to be able to meet the costs of putting together a live concert recording.

Johannesburg-based music expert Jonathan Shaw says the costs of huge productions using top-notch equipment are “staggering”, and usually run into several hundred thousand of rands.

“New artists will rather spend budgets on high end stylised and conceptual videos, while established artists cement their careers by investing in live music performance legacies. Names such as Lira, Zahara, Joyous Celebration and the Parlotones come to mind, all having worked hard to provide tangible products of their live sets,” he says.

According to recent revenue figures from the Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA), music sales have been on the decline since 2008. International DVD sales far surpassed local but in 2014 international sales stood at R25-million and local sales surpassed this with R28-million. However, Shaw predicts that before long, the big music retail chains will have all but disappeared.

Some say consumers have short attention spans, thus have very little time to sit and watch DVDs, while there are statistics to suggest that consumers now prefer to spend their disposable incomes on live music/concerts.

The PwC Entertainment and Media Outlook for the period 2016-2020 predicts that improving ticket sales and sponsorship revenue for live music revenue is taking an ever greater share of South Africa’s music market. In 2015, this accounted for 57% of total music revenue and predicts a 68% increase by 2020. It appears music consumers now prefer to experience music first-hand.

* The new edition of Jonathan Shaw’s book, The South African Music Business 3rd Edition, will be available from the end of June through Ada Enup publishing.

The Kings of the Weekend, SPHEctacula and DJ Naves are your new Gagasi FM afternoon drive hosts, weekdays 15H00 to 18H00.

Following a recent resignation from SABC’s Metro FM, where The Kings of the Weekend called home for seven years, it was announced that the dynamic duo will be taking over the Gagasi FM afternoon drive show from Thursday, 01 June 2017.

The appointment of the duo speaks volumes about the magnitude of their brand that they have successfully built over the past seven years.

“We knew we were ready for change and something bigger to challenge ourselves was on the cards. We weren’t sure precisely what this change would be, but we believed in having a bigger impact on radio. We put it out to the universe and our paths have aligned with Gagasi FM at the right time. We would like to whole-hearted thank the Gagasi FM team for believing in our vision and entrusting us with their prime time show. We look forward to executing our shared vision for the show with them and growing with the station,” commented SPHEctacula and Naves.

The duo have been hard at work with their anticipated new music. To celebrate this auspicious occasion, the duo has pushed forward plans to release their new EP, The Kings Way Vol 1 and will have it available from 01 June 2017.

SPHEctacula and DJ Naves’ appointment to the Gagasi FM afternoon drive show is another indicator that marks the new era they are embarking on. New club owners to premium clubbing venue, Icon Soweto in Pimville Square; the two have revolutionised their brand to include various monetised touch points within the entertainment industry.