By Clive Mono Mukundu

The Truth Hidden in Plain Sight

LIKE I indicated before, you can decide whether you want to take music as a non-profit making hobby and pastime or you want to take it as a career, the main difference between the two is that a hobby does not require a strict set of rules, why, because no one expects to be successful on a hobby, but everybody wants to be  cornhole distance successful in a career, so hobbies don’t have principles whilst careers do have principles.

If you want to enter the music business you now need to think like a business person simply because the word music is now attached to the word “business”, you cannot be successful in the music Crack Mac  business when you don’t think like a business person and when you do not apply business principles because every business has principles and strategies. Every business has competitors and one needs to find ways of being ahead of his competitors in order to stay.

The good thing is, all the information is available from both the oral history you can get from elders who went before you and from a few books, but youngsters always have the “I-know-it-all” attitude future vehicle when venturing into a new industry. Every industry has its myths and facts, its dos and don’ts.

When I decided to join the music industry, I could not find books to read about the local music industry, so I resorted to talking to a number of older musicians that I came across and asked many questions. I also read a lot of biographies of foreign musicians like Bob Marley, the Beatles, and Jimmy Hendrix and immediately discovered the differences between our music industry and the western world’s music industry, so I came into the industry fully armed.

The Open Secrets

I am going to list a few open secrets about the Jazz Monthly Zimbabwean music industry that we learn just by looking back at history, which a lot of people ignore as they enter the music world so history keeps repeating itself.

1. It is an open secret that the Zimbabwe music industry is a low-income industry when compared to other African countries like South Africa, Nigeria and the DRC. Besides the economic problems, our population is also small, in South Africa MAC Game [Torrent] Free Download  and Nigeria, a minor hit can pay you enough to buy a house in royalties whilst you will be lucky to buy even a bicycle in Zimbabwe.

• It is an open secret that band leaders of successful bands usually take the lion’s share and leave the band members to share the crumbs that fall from their table. The band leader in most cases takes home over 90 percent of the money and leaves band members to share the crumbs and that is why, in most of our big bands, it is only the band leaders who live affluent lives. Even if they go on numerous well-paying international tours, they still get paid crumbs. I always advise new comers in the industry to play their cards right, especially if they are not good singers.

Foreign Music

Many youngsters entering the music industry ignore the fact that it has always been very difficult for anyone to make meaningful money out of foreign music in Zimbabwe. We have had so many local Rock, Funk, RnB, and Jazz musicians that never made a significant impact. Although many get very favorable media coverage and a lot of airplay, they never ever do shows on their own because the shows will be poorly attended compared to shows by artists who play local music.

Of all foreign genres, it has been proven that reggae and dancehall are the most profitable although they do not compete with local genres, while deep Jazz and RnB-based genres have been the lowest in terms of bringing back revenue. When it comes to foreign gigs in Zimbabwe, most RnB artists flopped while the majority of reggae 110cc Motor Bike  shows made huge profits. In gospel music, it is always those artists that play local genres too that have made meaningful profits while those who play foreign genres, although some of them get favorable media coverage, are always lagging behind.

Sungura

No Sungura musician has ever made an impact internationally compared to Mbira or traditional Ndebele musicians. A few foreigners I have spoken to complain that the genre has so much monotony that for a non-Shona speaking person, it is very difficult to tell the difference between songs. Here are the main two reasons why.

1. Chord Progression: The majority of the songs have the same chord sequence described in the chord numbering system as 1/1V/1/5 in the key of C the chords would be C/F/C/G. As a result, you can sing thousands of songs on a single instrumental.
   1. Similar Arrangements and Dynamics:  About 99 percent of Sungura songs all start the same, usually with a lead guitar or rhythm guitar for either for four bars or 8 bars then all the other instruments come in, half way through the songs all the songs go on the “neutral zone” where one guitar, usually the rhythm guitar, goes solo for a number of bars, then other instruments join in and the song ends.

There is nothing wrong with a genre following certain forms and principles, but there is also a need for variance in certain things so that the songs differ from one another.

ZIMBABWE MUSIC INDUSTRY MYTHS

1. All youngsters love foreign music only

It is a popular myth spread by the media in Zimbabwe that youngsters do not love local music genres, but when our local musicians that play foreign genres hold their shows the youngsters do not go but are always seen at Oliver Mtukudzi, Thomas Mapfumo, and other local popular musicians’ shows.

• You need foreign music for international breakthrough

The reality on the ground shows that 99 percent of Zimbabwean artists that made it internationally were all playing local music, especially Mbira or traditional music without any use of the English language. While it is important to learn and borrow things such as business models from the foreign music industry, it is also very important for us as Zimbabwean artists to be aware and admit that we live in a totally different world. Our music world is not even similar to South Africa’s. Failure to realize and admit the differences will result in a number of problems. Firstly, music is a very low-income profession in Zimbabwe in contrast with the American industry, which is a multi-billion dollar industry. Music fans in Zimbabwe are exposed to Western music and western celebrities so they tend to associate fame with riches. As a result, they put pressure on local musicians who end up living beyond their means to match the standards. Unfortunately, in most cases, they end up even poorer because of trying to look rich. It is important to understand that Zimbabwe is not America, South Africa or Nigeria.

I remember at one time before I owned a car, I was traveling from Gweru to Harare on a bus. The guy seated next to me looked at me and asked me if I was Mono the guitarist he always sees on TV. I said yes, and he asked me what was wrong because he did not expect me to be using a cheap bus when I was a musician who always appeared on TV. To him, and many other people out there, being a musician who is constantly in the media must elevate you to the level of those American celebrities known for flaunting their wealthy lifestyles to the public, so you are supposed to own a fleet of cars. But that is not the case in Zimbabwe.

Failure to realize these differences usually results in musicians choosing music styles that are popular in the USA but not in Zimbabwe and expecting the same results. It is not a secret that straight undiluted 100 percent Rap and RnB music are not big genres in Zimbabwe when compared to local genres as well as Reggae and Dancehall. Almost all foreign RnB artists that staged shows in Zimbabwe flopped and left the promoters in trouble financially, but the majority of reggae shows made it.

• Every talented individual has a bright future

Talent is not everything in the music industry. If one does not play their cards right they will not go far in music. It is not every talented singer and instrumentalist who will make it. Never predict someone’s success based on their talent alone. When you enter the industry, one of the first things you notice is that much of what you thought would be easy is not so. You will realize that some things you thought would be a walkover are so complicated that they require not only practice but strategies as well. You will also discover that some of those things would be best left to fate than strategy. They will forever be mysteries, for example, there is no clear-cut strategy about how you can write a hit song. Before you enter any industry, it is wise to do research first. Talk to those who have done it before you, those who made it, and those who did not. Ask many questions so that you enter the industry armed with valuable information. Know the reasons why those who made it succeeded and why those who failed met such a fate.

From the book Poor & Famous chapter 5

Author :Clive ”Mono” Mukundu, Edited by Philip Chidavaenzi & Bernadette Mari-Deve

Monolio publications, Harare, Zimbabwe 2018