The story was as a result of what transpired on August 25 at the mega show featuring Oliver Mtukudzi and Alick Macheso where the promoter deliberately hiked the gate charge after noticing the huge turnout. This is not the first show at which such things have happened, it has become a common trend.
The promoters indeed admitted that they hike gate charges so as to maximise profits whereas the National Arts Council spelt it out clearly that there was no law that compelled music promoters to stick to the advertised fare.
Many times, fans are always on the receiving end. Most musicians I met during the course of the week blamed promoters for being greedy. At the end of the day, some fans would vent their anger at musicians not knowing that in most cases they are not the ones responsible.
Usually, during concerts, musi-cians are not in control of what will be happening at the gate as they would have been paid their performance fees in advance. So it will be the promoter in charge of everything during the show. As such the promoter can decide whatever figure they want to charge at the gate and even the prices of the beverages sold in the show.
Basing from what has been happening at most shows, it has shown that promoters do not have fans at heart, but are only interested in making as much money as they possibly can.
Obviously, that is the reason why they engage popular musicians rather than the little-known artistes. And for a fact promoters are doing more harm to the industry than good.
I do not have a vendetta against them, but am against their unethical practices. I am sure it is every musician’s goal to increase his/her fan base everyday and that is achieved by understanding and respecting the needs of their fans.
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BY BLESSING VAVA
