What are some artists’ take

MBABANE - Every artist wants their brand not to be tarnished and of good moral behaviour to the public and followers.

However, when t hey are caught up in drama with event organisers it seems like they are then associated with the scam, especially when the public has spent money on wanting to be part of an event that has been advertised.

Some locals have come out to condemn this behaviour by event organisers and this is what they had to say.

M King ( Rapper): “This is really bad for everybody, It makes artists look bad, like we’re part of the scam. I had people calling me a scam artist because I was promoting some show I was booked t o perform at some t i me i n 2018, where a certain big South African rapper was put as one of t he headline acts on t he poster only to find that he was used to push sales and he was not coming. I was supposed to have an hour- long set, I had dancers coming, DJs I paid for, I bought- shirts to brand my company and it was supposed to be a really good event for me – all I was trying to do was perform.”

WELZ WETHU: T h i s i s j u s t fraud. It really affects me as an artist and a brand. My fans won’t understand why I never showed up yet it was false advertising. Fans easily that anyone running an event at an unlicensed venue runs the same risk of that event cancelled forthwith,” elaborated Arts and Culture’s Mathokoza Sibiya. Sibiya is part of the events association which was formed by Arts and Culture in 2020.

Licensing

He further added that the licensing of event managers is still going to t a k e a c o u p l e o f months o r s o a s this will require the event manager t o g o t h r o u g h a p r o c e s s t h a t wil l empower t hem with s ome health, lose trust in their favourite artist, on the next show some won’t show up because of that false poster. I personally called that event organiser and ask for a retraction and also post on all my social media account.

CULOLAMI: It doesn’t affect me in any way honestly since I’m also an events organiser so I understand other things that other artists don’t understand.

There are many reasons behind that, it can be possible that the organiser and the artist didn’t agree with fees and they only agree after the poster has been released, or you may find t hat i t ’s an upcoming ar t i s t who asked for a platform after seeing the poster so he/ she gets exposure.

S I B U S I S O S I M E L A N E ; I n cases like that, I would usually find out on social media, I will then try find out who is organising the gig, a nd c ont a c t t hem, wit h r e s pect I would try find out what was the deal for them to have an artist without us knowing.

Whatever explanation I get the request would be to remove the artist or we negotiate payment terms, before we say anything about not being part of the event which may then tarnish their brand.

I always deal with t he organiser peacefully and r each conclusions without any third party involved just to help them not look unprofessional.

safety, security and ethics skills, to name a few. On that note, unlicensed event managers will not be allowed to stage events once the process has been put in place.

Therefore, licensed event managers will know what i s ethical and unethical. What you are talking about i s u n e t h i c a l a n d , t h e r e f o r e , s u c h cases will be taken up and dealt with accordingly.

This could even lead to a total ban of t hat event manager; whether a member or non- member.