Over 800 artistes have so far registered with an online music platform created by Gateway Stream, a subsidiary of the Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG), which went up at the beginning of this month. The platform is aimed at empowering artistes by ensuring that they have local and modern ways to earn from their work.
By Kennedy Nyavaya
The Gateway Stream Music web and mobile application — an interactive platform built for musicians and users — is an addition to the tourism giant’s integrated, versatile, innovative mobile and web-based application that was brought to life in 2018.
Speaking at a recent workshop themed Managing your music as a business recently, Gateway Stream Music project manager Ishe Makambira said they were bringing the platform to plug a gap that has left musicians counting losses for a long time.
“We have now completed the development of the Gateway Stream mobile and web application. The objective of the workshop today is to now train the artistes on how they can use the application to monetise their music,” said Makarimba “[The application] will give artistes access to consumers and ensure that they can earn revenue for their trade, reducing the risk of losing earnings through piracy.”
According to Makambira, the interactive application will also have a livestreaming capability where artistes can livestream their performance(s) and collect revenue through the pay-per-view facility “The concept of the Gateway Stream Music web and mobile application is premised on the need to empower artistes. This platform enables them to upload their music, set pricing, manage inventory and receive revenue for all purchases through a revolutionary wallet function,” he said.
The innovation comes at a time musicians have been losing revenue to piracy perpetrated by people who sell counterfeit CDs on the streets as well as free downloads.
Those who rely on foreign online platforms have had a hard time influencing a significant number of fans to buy their work because of suppressed access which results in low income.
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The workshop, which was a follow-up to the first held in October, was attended by several arts managers and administrators with keynote addresses coming from the artistes and repertoire manager: Africa for Sony ATV Music Publishing South Africa Munyaradzi Chanetsa as well as Mokoomba manager Marcus Gora.
Gora applauded the Gateway Stream Music application saying the local music scene needs more innovation like that so that musicians can professionally publish and earn from their talents.
“As an industry, we ought to be thankful that there are things like Gateway Stream that are coming up because it broadens the opportunities and platforms that are there for artistes because we have a problem in Zimbabwe with gatekeepers choosing who can be heard and when, which affects our work,” Gora said.
