90% local: What listeners think
Seven SABC radio listeners from Tshwane say what they think about the SABC’s initiative to play 90% local music on its stations
The SABC has prioritised South African music, with the broadcaster recently announcing new policy requiring its 18 radio stations to play at least 90% local music.
Change has come but the ball is now in the court of the millions of radio listeners across South Africa. Audiences will have to keep radio ratings up by supporting their favourite local artists on air.
Seven listeners from Tshwane, who tune in to different SABC radio stations, share their views on the new policy. Lesedi FM can’t listen to any one of them for more than 10 minutes. They are pedantic. I think it’s a great advancement for our musicians but I wish we could take our local music overseas. We could export music by artists, for example, Kurt Darren. I don’t know much about the black musicians yet, but if our rappers could go international then that would be amazing. I think their biggest problem might be the language barrier: people don’t always understand what they are saying.
I wouldn’t mind. I like to listen to the rhythm of things, for example the drums. Words are important to me but what is most important is for the music to relax and calm me. Jazz. I love jazz. Talk Radio 702 and Classic FM. Radio 702 is a good talk station with good deejays and they have relevant and informative topics.
It’s good because for some obscure reason, South Africa likes this Americentric nation. We are so focused on what the United States does and we follow their trends. We assume that as long as it’s American, then it must be good. Having a policy like this on the radio will force people to promote local music. I think we are creating a new consciousness that says we have our own resources and local artists who are really good.