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Bongani Ndlovu/Langalakhe Mabena, Showbiz Reporters
IT has been a problem for some time now and it seems it is becoming worse as the numbers appear to dwindle by the year at shows in Bulawayo.

Last month, Bulawayo was treated to what was supposed to be an epic show at Queens Sports Club as Black Diamond crew hosted a Gqom Life All White Party which had a massive line up of the city’s best artistes. Despite the big budget on the advertising and marketing of the event since last year and a VVIP section manned by the elite Cosmopolitan Club, a handful of people attended the show. Local big names like Mzoe 7, DJ Skaiva and Asaph simply failed to pull the crowds and it was obvious that the event organisers ran a loss considering that performing artistes were paid before the day of the show.

Apart from this event, the year 2017 was not a good one for most local promoters who had the mindset of giving Bulawayo artistes a chance.

Even the platforms that artistes are given to shine have been struggling to attract people. Last year, the 13th edition of one of the most prestigious arts festivals Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo failed to attract the normal crowds that usually grace the event. It leaves one wondering why Intwasa lost such a massive following.

A promoter who organised an all Bulawayo artistes show, Mduduzi Mdlongwa said the city’s residents have not started to appreciate local music.

He said people would buy into an event or concept but not the music.

“People from Bulawayo haven’t learnt to value music from the city. They are brought together with concepts such as Bulawayo Arts Awards and The Bulawayo Music Carnival but after that they go back to listening to music from South Africa,” said Mdlongwa.

He said another thing was that some artistes are not aggressive with their marketing and getting their music out there.

“When one is promoting shows, what we do is aggressive marketing. We do this to bring people to the shows or Tshisanyama. Some artistes unfortunately are lazy and aren’t aggressive with their marketing,” said Mdlongwa.

“When we ask artistes to sell tickets most come back without any sales. This shows that either their own fans don’t believe in them or they approach the wrong crowd.”

Award winning promoter X-MO Squad’s Vusumuzi Siqalaba, who organises the Kalawa Homecoming Party, said the problem was that at times fans do not get value for their money from artistes’ performance.

“The crowd should be left mesmerised by your performance. When you fail to capture the crowd, the next time people hear your name or see it on a poster, they won’t come to your show — it’s simple as that,” said Siqalaba.

He said some artistes should take heed from Winky D whom he described as extremely professional.

“Winky D, when you go to his shows, it’s non stop action from start to finish. He’s got the energy and gives people value for money. Even for us as promoters, when we hire him, he’s always early for shows and does sound checks. He even looks for us.

“On the other hand, some artistes come late or drunk and conduct themselves in a bad manner which damages the artiste’s brand,” said Siqalaba.

Other artistes have argued that their music is not played frequently on radio to popularise them and their songs hence why they do not have support but Siqalaba says local musicians should learn to work with what they have.

“So if there’s no radio station does that mean they should stop producing music? The lack of airplay isn’t a new thing and won’t end anytime soon so the best thing that they can do is to work within their means. Use what they have such as social media.

“The problem is that even their neighbours don’t know some of these artistes’ music, what more people in a concert who they expect to sing along,” said Siqalaba.

Therefore, one is left wondering if the formula or policy of local artistes hosting their own shows without artistes from other parts of the country or outside the country’s borders is strategic? From the above scrutiny, the strategy seems to be weaker as it is has proved that Bulawayo artistes cannot stand alone for a show due to many reasons which might include poor advertising, poor planning of the venue and other such shortcomings.

Siqalaba said artistes should learn that they should build a fan base from scratch.

“One doesn’t wake up with a fan base. They should build one from scratch and at the end of the day they will command a following.

“This takes dedication, patience and excellent marketing and PR strategies that can get them to the pinnacle,” said Siqalaba.

Local promoters Shut up and Groove events are willing to give Bulawayo artistes a chance to shine and they are hosting a Youth Festival at Windermere Hotel next Saturday. The line-up has special guest performers which include Mzoe 7 and the award winning Kasi rap wordsmith Floppy X. Other artistes to perform include Tribal Therapy, Millza, Sir Palmer, Ezimnyama Arts and 8nine Musique.