Men for Sale

Extract from Soweto in a Nutshell

We are living an adopted American dream extension in a third world country pretending to be all that can be, i.e. celebrated South African citizens liberated in 1994 while encapsulated in the trauma of truth decay by political misrepresentation and power plays of our beloved political affiliations.

various political party rivals stab each other in the back today and the next morning they kiss on Network News and make up in parliament with the opposition, party alliance perpetrators.

How else, should we survive in a concrete jungle without all these facade, pretence, and delusions of grandeur?

No one is prepared to sacrifice his or her heart-earned blood, sweat and tears to get a fair fight for a fair good deal of life. Everyone is looking for short cuts and cutting corners to reach the top dollar sit by virtually paying zilch.

With minimal effort without taking cognisance to the true values that, made great men like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, The prophet Moses, Martin Luther King Jr. Desmond Tutu and Trevor Huddleston what hard work and patience stood for : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_pb4JidKgQ

Peace
Samablue Publishers: Copyright Protected

Soweto Chiefs & Pirates Derby

SA Poor Music Super Stars - The Dilemma of Instant Fame

Gallo records reports that IBOKWE, Thandiswa Mazwai’s second album, has passed the 20 000 sales mark, attaining Gold status for South Africa. Courtesy http://www.music.org.za/News.asp

I would feel envious and jealous to the success of Thandiswa Mazwai for this record-breaking achievement, If you were in my shoes you would probably feel the same way too. The fact of the matter is that she might be struggling to pay certain bills or for her townhouse or maybe keeping up with her overdraft who knows I can be totally wrong and forgiven for thinking this way.

Nine (9) out of 10 so called current South African legends and music super star face a bleak future ahead of their retirement, than we can afford to give them credit for their fame and super star status. Why? two reasons come to my mind. The local South African culture and music consumer does not respect the law and the use of local musician’s intellectual property nor do they comprehend the value of musical talent, creative input let alone the financial investment that goes into producing a successful artist or record.

Simply put, it is because the South African copyright law has too many flaws to protect these musicians into a successful retirement of their careers in music. SAMRO is supposedly the big deal for most local artist, as if it is the be all and end all of the road to riches in music, thus complacency has set precedence with musicians over issues dealing with copyright laws besides royalty payments or piracy of their music by local consumers and organized crime.

Newspaper headlines read “Musicians and singers, who are living in KwaZulu-Natal, will no longer have to travel to Johannesburg to record their music, thanks to the opening of a R15 million recording studio in the province”. The multi-million rand facility, called KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Music House, with top-of-the-range facilities, was opened by provincial MEC for Finance Ina Cronje, on Friday. The studio material at the KZN Music House in Greyville, Durban, competes with M1 studios in Auckland Park, Jozi.

As if, these musicians will conquer the world and the world charts from this day onward to live life of bling-bling to the fullest. A warning alarm I resonated almost 28 years ago with resentment and discomfort to sign any record deal where details are blurred and unclear and copyright ownership is not recognized. My musician colleagues and friends, who wanted the glamour and glory of instant fame and stardom, signed without blinking and failed to heed my warning call.

I was right and they were wrong this time and disappointed because my vision was too optimistic and far-fetched to comprehend. They signed their lives over to a record deal and a company that they later on regretted. 30 year later, I am still in the business of making music and trying to lay a foundation of my own independent international label a road I would encourage every aspiring SA musician to patiently embark on if they’re serious with a long lasting career in music.

"Record label hunts for music makers"
Music producers from across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region are set to battle it out for a chance to join one of South Africa’s leading record labels, Four Sounds Productions. Four Sounds received some 10 000 applications for three producer posts they announced on MIO in July this year. The Mothiba twin Brothers (George and Joseph), who form Revolution and run the stable, have now screened the applications down to 3 000 and,in two weeks time, will start auditions at SABC and Pyramid studios.

Passing away of a legend: Winston Manakunku Ngozi
The record company reports 21 737 units sold within just six weeks of the album’s release Yakhal' Inkomo" by "Mankunku Quartet" in 1968, Winston became a household name in South African townships. The album title is directly translated from Xhosa as "the bellowing bull", and refers to the particularly anguished cry made by cattle as they go to the slaughter. Winston Mankunku Ngozi passed away in the early hours of this morning, Tuesday 13 October 2009 at the Victoria Hospital, Wynberg, Cape Town.

"Music royalties are a misunderstood concept, not only in terms of how they are calculated, but also who is entitled to them. It is important to understand who the parties are that are entitled to music royalties, before we address how they are calculated. The Copyright Act defines various rights in music and the royalties that accrue in terms of these various rights accrue to specific people or entities. The purpose of this exercise is demystify, who the rightsholders are and how the distributions are done" said one music executive.

He continues "By definition, a royalty is a payment or fee that is due to people who have created something and own certain rights therein, as compensation for the usage thereof by others. So in the case of music; when a distribution is declared, a royalty is a payment that is due to the various parties - usually called rights holders or owners - that are involved in the creation or publishing of a musical work, in respect of the usage of that musical work".

However, how many of our local artists who have signed with big record companies can claim to have received what is due to them, in respect of the record sales they made in their lifetime? should it sell as “Gold” or “Platinum” to justify their stardom or success as they walk into retirement i.e. period of everlasting happiness or face their poorly financed musical career grave?

Is this a dilemma of wishing away your stars to acquire instant fame or is this just pure ignorance and lack of foresight by our artists? You be the judge I rest my case. There is a saying that goes “If you do not own it- Chances are that – You will not control or determined the value of its worth”.

Peace

Gyuto Monks - Ancient Practice Modern Sound