EDITOR – In the past few days the Chief Operating Officer(COO) of SABC announced probably the most broad transformative changes to give local musicians and artists a 90 per cent broadcasting opportunity in terms of which local music will enjoy 90 per cent exposure.
This sounded very radical but it was about time that SABC was bold enough about this. Simultaneously the COO announced that the royalties to these artist would increase from 3.5 per cent to four per cent – in a multi-billion rand industry each little bit adds value to the musicians who have been side-lined for many years.
Now it’s up to the various radio stations to embrace the new policy and make us all proudly South African. We have been exposed for too long to Western music and on occasion one would hear Justin Bieber’s songs ad nauseum. We are all aware that this policy shift applies to all the SABC radio stations and given the way the COO manages things, the policy will be embraced by all. However there are other radio stations that are “privately” owned and as such not bound by the policy of the SABC.
Would they continue being “unpatriotic” or would they also embrace the change in direction and “go with the flow”. Some local stations have been playing music of the past three to four decades and one must admit that they were playing it to a select audience. Given the age profile of the population of KwaZulu-Natal consisting of approximately 60 per cent being between the ages of 18 and 30 years one would believe that these stations would play to reach that market but it has not changed. It’s time for the private stations to transform as well.
As South Africans we need to be proud of our local talent and be more supportive and this has to read in the context of our unusual history with apartheid manifesting itself in the psyche of all of us, where we were conditioned into believing that “local was not lekker”. Its time for change and this presents that very opportunity to change with the times and give the locals and opportunity to have their “time in the sun”.
Sicario
Durban
