AND THE AWARD GOES TO...

With the SAMA season upon us, all roads lead to the city of the sun this long weekend for the event of all events, the 18th annual MTN South African Music Awards. We await with anxiety and curiosity to see who is the MUSO AMONGST MUSOS.

The preparations for this prestigious yellow carpet event have reached its final stages. Organising an event of such high magnitude has its fair share of challenges that can make the event to be a complete failure. Last year’s event was held at Monte Casino in Johannesburg, it wasn't very impressive and was ranked as being poorly organised, boring and disappointing.

Members of the public and the artists voiced out their complaints on social networks such as the SAMAs Facebook page and Twitter after artists’ accommodation arrangements were mixed up, the sound system was low and the tickets were not available on time, the delegates had to stand in a queue to pick up their tickets despite the confirmation e-mails the organisers had sent assuring them that tickets will be available to them at a particular time, but that was not the case. About 20 people were robbed of their wallets, cameras and cellphones due to poor security measures which were not in order, LINK.

With lessons learnt from last year and the organisers wanting to restore their name, this year’s event is expected to be bigger and better than before.

RICHLY GIFTED BUT POORLY PAID







WHOSE TELLING THE TRUTH?TS Records co-owner

Thembinkosi Nciza, Songbird Zahara and her parents

Mr and Mrs Mkutukana at a media

conference at Ragent Hotel in East London. source



It is said that one shouldn’t believe everything they read in the newspapers because it isn’t always true. Clearly Zahara agrees with this statement, which is why she tweeted as follows, “papers may write whatever they want but I know I have been a great kid to my family and TS too has been good to me and my family”. link

This comes after an article which was published in the tabloid newspaper, Sunday World on 15 April 2012, claiming that TS records is milking and exploiting the songbird link.This story had the star’s fans expressing their rage on social media.

The multi award nominee is now on a quest to do damage control using a crisis management plan to restore her record label’s tainted name. She was on radio stations such as Metro FM and Umhlobo Wenene and recently appeared on the front cover of Move Magazine defending TS Records and reassuring her fans that she isn't being exploited.

If these accusations are indeed true then it is obvious that the co-owners of TS Records, Thembinkosi Nciza and Sibusiso Leope do not know the importance of a positive corporate image.

In this industry of music you can never be guaranteed of where and when your next meal will come from, which is why TS records should cross their fingers and pray that their fans will not stop visiting music stores to buy any TS productions due to this unfortunate setback.

It’s time that our musicians learnt the importance of business skills and financial management to avoid situations like these.

DO IT YOURSELF

Unless you have a massive record label tailing you and are able to afford a PRP to head up your media relations, then I suggest you read this because “we”, PRPs don’t come cheap.

Self-promoting or marketing your own music is an important skill not everybody possesses, but luckily for you, I have a few tips to help you get started. PR is an on-going process that won’thappen overnight but it will be worth it.

IDENTIFY YOUR GOALS-                 Have a clear mind on what you want to promote and why, it can be a concert, a tour or your latest single. Just do one thing at a time or else you will be biting off more than you can chew.

TARGET THE RIGHT AUDIENCE-      Emphasis on the word RIGHT. There is nothing more boring and embarrassing than performing to an audience that doesn’t find your music entertaining and fun because it’s not their style. That is just a NO NO! Don’t perform for a random audience because your desperate to get yourself out there, it will be of no use.

MAKE STATEMENT-    Try to stand out amongst other musicians, be appetising. Do not bore people because the sad truth is that there are other good music hopefuls who might be better than you.

BE ENTICING-                Truth be told, we all love freebies. So use the old fashioned way to get what you want, BRIBE, but do it in a subtle manner! It’s unethical but it will do the trick. Give free tickets to your show or give free drink passes to all industry personnel who come to check you out on your show.

BRANDING-     Do what you need to do to get your name out there, just as long as it’s legal. Have stickers or badges made, have t-shirts printed, everything and anything that has your brand on it.

DO NOT LOOSE YOUR CONTACTS-  Plain and simple, keep in regular contact with your contacts in the industry, you NEED these people.