Ihave just finished reading Clive “Mono” Mukundu’s latest 226-page publication titled Poor and Famous.
By Fred Zindi
The book itself is a passionate, occasionally hortatory avowal and practical roadmap to the fascinating world of the music industry. Its 24 chapters seek to steer the reader towards an appreciation of the dynamics of working in music. It is insightful and it unearths the golden nuggets of the music business from Making money in music to The future of music in Zimbabwe and Band politics and splits.
I will not try to summarise the different chapters in the book, but one chapter, which has drawn my attention is on payola. As Mono explains it in Chapter 3 of the book: Every artiste’s wish worldwide is to have their music on rotation on radio. Although new multi-media technology has provided us with other avenues on which to play music, public radio’s power has never diminished. You still need to have your music played on radio. There is still no better way for a marketer to market music than to get it heard on radio.
A very common question is: who decides what plays on radio? Well, every radio station has its own modus operandi. For radio stations in Zimbabwe, producers are in charge of the playlist. They decide what the DJ will play, but the vast majority of the DJs are their own producers. They are called producer/presenters so they decide what to play, but they have to write down the playlist (what they call a compilation sheet) and present it to the chief or executive producer for verification. It is the same sheet that will be presented to Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (ZIMURA), which is the collecting society for composers’ royalties in Zimbabwe.
A song might be picked because it is creating a lot of buzz on the internet, or it has gathered thousands of hits on YouTube, or is being requested a lot by listeners on radio or it is being frequently shared on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social networking sites.
In Zimbabwe, it could be the most requested song in the public transport system. When Zimdancehall came along, it was massively advertised in public transport vehicles known as kombis. At first the passengers would complain until they got used to it. That was how it became popular and people started requesting the music on radio.
According to Mono, payola is the act of paying media outlets money by musicians or their agents in order to get airplay and media coverage. The argument is that most DJs are paid very little and, therefore, need to supplement their salaries through payola. (Although I never practiced payola, I remember being paid $30 a shift at a local radio station in 2016 which came to $120 a month. Fortunately, for me, I had income from other legitimate sources.)
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From the time radio started operating, there have been stories of record labels paying radio DJs or whoever was in charge of the playlists money so that their products received more airplay. Payola does not come in monetary form only. It is said that in the United States in the 1950s, DJs were either paid cash bribes or presented with fur coats (gifts for their wives) and in the 1970s and 1980s, station directors were supplied with drugs and prostitutes.
Although it is illegal, it is believed major record labels worldwide are involved in these dealings. In the US, it is believed that this is the reason why artistes that are not signed to major record labels find it hard to succeed no matter how good their music is, but since the deals are illegal, it is difficult to verify or to get evidence. But over the past decade alone, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and other companies have reportedly paid millions of dollars in fines for breaching payola regulations.
In Zimbabwe, our big record labels used to buy prime time on radio to promote new music, but paying a radio presenter or doing so for his own personal use for the purpose of airplay is illegal although very difficult to control.
In most western countries the power to choose what to play was removed from DJs and given to programme directors [PDs], but that made payola simpler in that, instead of paying many DJs it was easier to pay programme directors, because at times it is a single PD who has the final say on the play list of the whole station.
In Zimbabwe, during the era of major record labels there were many stories and theories too. In Zimbabwe radio presenters are not issued playlists, they are the ones who decide what to play, so it is rumoured that some of them received payouts from major record companies during that era. Some theories say a few of them who were deemed very influential and popular were privately put on the record label’s bill payroll lists so that they received salaries. As a result, the record labels dictated to them what to play and what not to play, how the top 10 or top 20 charts were supposed to be run, and also to speak favourably of their musicians. It is also alleged that in the 1990s some of the most influential popular DJs were presented with flashy sports cars, and when colour televisions came around, they were also given TVs as payola. It is also alleged that some rich musicians also get involved in payola deals with DJs. While the common payola is paid for the favourable airplay of one’s music, there is a different type of payola too, where it is alleged certain artistes can also pay so that their rivals do not get favourable airplay and reviews. Again it is an allegation you will hear of the whole world over, but very difficult to obtain evidence. Although in many developed countries there have been arrests, payola remains very difficult to investigate, so the bulk of the stories remain theories and accusations without proof. Unlike in the US, South Africa and other countries, no such cases have ever resulted in legal proceedings or convictions in Zimbabwe, but payola is alive and well.
So, basically, payola is about bribing the DJ or the journalist to play or give favourable commentary about an artiste’s music.
There have been several comments from those who have read Mono’s book on this subject. For instance, Abbie Wekwa Nyathi writes:
“I worked with some unknown groups from 2003 to 2006. I at one time did some jingles for a radio station mahara [for free] in exchange for airplay. Yes, one of the groups benefited and got much airplay from that.
One popular DJ akatombonditi, “Tinoridza music yenyu sei kana muchihwanda kuChegutu kwenyu ikoko musingatishanyirewo vafanha? [If you want airplay, you must come and personally pay us a visit from Chegutu]”.
Elton Mjanana also writes:
“A big artiste paid a DJ not to play my artiste on radio. The DJ himself told me …as did the newspaper journalist who I had been told knew the story. I was flabbergasted. It’s fine to pay payola for yourself… but not pay to put others down.”
Stanford Tembo commented from Zambia:
“What about a radio station, which charges artistes money to play their music on radio officially? Here in Lusaka a private radio station has an official charge chart at their reception. You will pay what you can afford. Either for a week or for a month. I paid K150,00 for my new album Choices to be played at this radio station for a month.”
While I agree with Tembo’s sentiments, I feel if this kind of system is introduced here, it will compromise the quality of music. We will get to hear anything as every Tom, Dick and Harry who can afford to pay, will be played on our radio stations.
Whichever way it is, I find payola to be a disgusting system. I remember one very angry musician beating up a DJ because he had not given his music sufficient airplay after the musician had paid $100. Peace! l Feedback: [email protected]
