Ephraim Keoreng
26 November 2008
The Botswana music industry is facing serious challenges and possible takeover by international musicians, who have huge marketing budgets.
In an interview, Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU) spokesperson Seabelo Modibe said yesterday that a lot of factors have conspired to retard the growth of the music industry in the country.
He cites the latest global economic recession, which has sent fuel prices soaring and the new media such as digital downloads, which have sent record sales tumbling.
He also blames the new liquor trading hours, which have killed music shows. "For over the past six months we have had few concerts by local artists but more international concerts, even this week there will be Hugh Masekela, Ntando, Splash, Dalom Kids and Matshikos from South Africa," he said.
Normally, local artists and promoters hold their concerts at the end of the month and with limited trading hours under new regulations, bars, hotels, posh restaurants have become fashionable and musicians are experiencing serious challenges in attracting patrons, said Modibe, adding that trying to start shows during the day does not help because of the heat and rain.
"Live performances are a strong marketing tool as musicians also sell their recordings at these events. These concerts are also important to upcoming artists who use them as a promotional vehicle to jumpstart their music careers. But with concerts closing at 12 midnight and bars at 11pm there is no way musicians can survive because one hour of trading is not enough to do business," he said.
To win the war against copyright infringement of music, he said, it is paramount to establish an independent copyright office with a copyright administrator as stipulated by the Copyright Act.
"For the copyright office to be part of the Registrar of Companies, matters relating to copyright will always be overshadowed by matters relating to companies as the core business of the Registrar of Companies is to register companies. Also there is a need for an Anti Copyright Theft Unit within the Botswana Police Service that will tackle these issues head on. Copyright Infringement does not affect music only though we are the most affected. Copyright infringement of phonographic products currently stands at 82 percent in Botswana as per 2006 study by the Business Software Alliance. This is very high because it means out of 10 music and software CDs in the Botswana market eight of them are fake," he said.
He hoped that with the Copyright Office being independent and also having a unit within the police force, copyright issues would be catered for, as there will be staff at all levels.
Modibe expressed the need to have an arts council saying that Botswana is the only country in Southern Africa that is "without an Arts Council. An Arts Council is similar to BNYC in sports. In Botswana there is not even one Public Entertainment Centre where you can find a hall, gym and cinema under one roof.
There was talk of construction of a Cultural Village in Palapye in 1977 but there has been no development. These are serious issues that the Khama administration must tackle head on," he said.
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