Promoter relives October 2 horror
TODAY marks the first anniversary of an event that gave Jive Zimbabwe director Benjamin Nyandoro a baptism of fire.
His much hyped “Celebrate Local” concert, which was held at the iconic Harare International Conference Centre (HICC), was a monumental flop that gave him a rude awakening in the local showbiz industry.
With a line-up of 12 artistes among them Mokoomba, Victor Kunonga, Hope Masike, Alexio Kawara, Clive Chigubhu, Tariro neGitare, Edith WeUtonga, Bryan Kadengu, Trish The Word, Clare Nyakujara, and Willom and Gary Tight; the event still failed to attract a modest crowd.
Those quick to craft jokes aptly summed up the show when they said the performing artistes outnumbered fans.
Even though Nyandoro appears like a man made of stainless steel and with great shock absorbers, this episode gave him a new perspective on showbiz.
He got a harsh life lesson that he begrudgingly cherishes to this day.
“The event met all requirements and was supported by extensive publicity that included two ZBC interviews, but still went on to flop.
‘‘That showed me that publicity is not the only crucial factor, but the calibre of artistes involved,” he said.
Nyandoro said “Celebrate Local” is an initiative that promotes local arts. He said it is derived from the Buy Zimbabwe concept that envisions greater utilisation of local resources for sustainable growth and development to promote consumption of local products and services.
Soon after, Nyandoro vowed to soldier on despite the flop.
Just before the gig, he had made numerous announcements via Press, SMS and WhatsApp messages, that he would hold quarterly concerts of the “Celebrate Local” gigs to propel greater consumption of local productions.
We are now in the last quarter of the year and none of the gigs have come through.
Also, the music promotions’ plans of launching an A3 size monthly tabloid titled “Celebrate Local” seem to have suffered a stillbirth.
It seems like the Jive Zimbabwe director abandoned his plans of assisting upcoming artistes.
Nyandoro concedes that last year’s flopped gig gave him a new perspective to life, especially considering that he had to refund some of the few fans who had graced the show.
“It was a necessary experiment on our part. It showed us the factors at play in this business. All Jive Zimbabwe’s decisions are thus now motivated by October 2,” he said.
But this has not been the only flop in showbiz.
The showbiz industry, just like any other sector of the economy, currently finds itself in an unenviable situation and requires due diligence for one to stay afloat.
Late last year, veteran promoter Chris Musabayana of Ghetto Fabulous is said to have attempted to commit suicide by jumping into an empty swimming pool after his show involving Alick Macheso, Soul Jah Love and Peter Moyo was a massive disaster.
Partson “Chipaz” Chimbodza recorded a terrible loss when he held a Gospel Greats concert at the HICC while his counterpart Josh Hozheri also got a shocker when a handful of people turned up for his annual Jazz show at the City Sports Centre in 2014.
A frail looking Beauty James passed on in 2013 after hosting a gospel show featuring top artistes, but was a flop.
The late Prince Tendai’s, Akon/Sean Paul gig was not a flop in terms of numbers but the promoter incurred huge losses due to a porous gate.
The above mentioned promoters, save for the deceased, have since picked themselves up and are vigilantly continuing in the same line of trade.
The flops seem to have made them stronger. But Nyandoro has completely changed his game plan after counting his losses.
He now focuses on established brands like Jah Prayzah, Alick Macheso, Suluman Chimbetu and Oliver Mtukudzi.
These easily draw crowds and guarantee returns.
Probably promoting upcoming and unheralded artistes should be done out of a pure desire to assist them and not through a hidden motive of ripping big from the unsuspecting low charging artistes.
Which brings us to the question, is music promotion supposed to benefit the artiste or the promoter?
Nyandoro has an interesting answer to that.
“If ever I’m going to do a similar show (Celebrate Local) in the future, it will not be for commercial purposes but as part of my philanthropy. For commercial value, I will only be working with big names. October 2 confirmed that we need big artistes in this business,” said Nyandoro.
But again, in this new approach, Nyandoro is now focusing more on publicising big events and has left “real” promotion to other muscles like was the case on Alick Macheso and Jah Prayzah’s album launches where he worked with Red Cross Zimbabwe, Nash Paints, Two Kings Entertainment and Pure Drop.
And the Jive Zimbabwe boss is not done.
“I gave those 12 artistes each a book of 100 tickets for the gig to sell and surprisingly, all of them save for Bryan K and Gary Tight did not make meaningful sells. How then can I help an artiste who does not have 100 people that believe in him or her?
“I played my part by securing sponsors and marketing the event, including other preparatory costs and they failed to play theirs hence the need to reconsider my position,” added Nyandoro.
“This problem is common even with big artistes.
‘‘Once they get flat fees, they don’t market the event like they do when they are responsible for gate takings.
However, they forget a poor attendance affects not only the promoter but their brands as well.”
That said, one wonders if Jive Zimbabwe ever believed in the local talent principle in the first place.
Maybe it was just a business experiment that horribly went wrong.