Record company exec starts own label
Sewraj’s deals likely to stir up industry
After years carving out music careers and influencing the direction of music making and marketing in South Africa, record company executive Dharam Sewraj is striking out on his own.
The impressario has taken the lessons from over the years to craft a recording deal that is unusually flexible and contains clauses that are unheard of in the industry.
While at Universal Music, Sewraj oversaw careers of artists such as Black Coffee, Big Nuz, Chicco Twala, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Kabelo Mabalane, Mafikizolo, Zahara, Robbie Malinga, Dr Tumi and Donald.
His trailblazing offering through his company Bhavani Entertainment and Investments – named after the Hindu goddess of creativity – puts the musician first.
Drafted by Sewraj and lawyer David Feinberg, the contract is only eight pages long and avoids legal jargon. He plans to have it translated into Zulu to make it even more accessible. Some of the clauses include international career opportunities to be exploited, accounting, credits and merchandising.
“I put the artist first. The days of musicians dying as paupers must be a thing of the past and this new venture will rewrite history and get us better prepared for the digital age,” he says.
Sewraj has been at it for 37 years. He says his biggest victory was when he successfully saved 10% of needle-time fees for the use of an artist’s music that was going to be channelled to the Performers Organisation of South Africa (Posa). He approached the SA Music Performers Rights Association board members to plead the case for artists and the move was scrapped.