Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Richmore Tera
21 March 2009
Harare — THERE are attempts by former employees to revive Record and Tape Promotions - under a new title - with the help of sungura musician Alick Macheso, who has always wanted to own a recording studio.
Macheso is one of the country's leading musicians and has never made secret plans to emulate Oliver Mtukudzi in owning a studio for his own work and also promoting upcoming artistes.
However, preliminary indications are that Macheso might just be a shareholder with no controlling stake although he might just have it his own way as he has a ready source of financial input.
"Work is currently being done at the new studio. It is located in Msasa and some people who were previously with RTP are behind the project.
"Zvine varidzi vazvo (It has some people behind it). If you can manage to get in touch with some former RTP employees, they would be in a better position to tell you everything," he said.
As if to confirm that plans might have reached an advanced stage, Macheso revealed that he was contemplating recording his next album with the studio.
This comes after the proposed trip to South Africa for talks with their current recording studio MMT did not materialise.
"I am still thinking about what to do with the album. I might record it with the studio, or still take it to South Africa, considering the options.
"I think it would be wise to record the album with the studio and then take it to South Africa as a master copy in order to minimise on expenses. This would enable us to record as a full band," he said.
Macheso also said Hosiah Chipanga and Daiton Somanje were among the musicians that the studio was targeting to record first.
"We are targeting Hosiah Chipanga and Daiton Somanje because they have albums that are ready. Another reason is that the two were among the musicians who were affected by the closure of RTP."
Contacted for comment, Chipanga conceded that he would be taking his album to another company in the event that authorities at the defunct RTP had given him the greenlight.
He however, professed ignorance that he was among the first musicians that the new studio had targeted.
Tich Makahamadze, a former senior official with RTP, could neither confirm nor deny reports on the revival of RTP.
"Get in touch with me sometime after something concrete has emerged and then I would be in a position to tell you everything. But I tell you it's something big," he said.
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