DURBAN: WITH the SABC’s 90:10 content policy over, local artists hope they will not lose out on the extra airtime they gained over the past year.
The policy came into effect in May last year and was music to the ears of local artists, but now they are wondering what will happen.
The move was directed by former SABC executive Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
But the SABC board has since pulled the plug on Motsoeneng and his ideology left with him.
That worries locals.
Anusha Khan, a feature of the South African music scene for over a decade, said it had been hard to get a foot in the door, and airtime on popular stations like Lotus FM helped promote locals.
“When only original content can be aired, it can be difficult to produce this music without the resources,” she said.
Bollywood musician Ajeeth Harpal said it could be difficult to get airplay on Lotus FM and Radio Hindvani.
“Some stations say singers don’t meet quality requirements, but I’ve had my CDs recorded professionally,” he said.
Harpal is creating a Golden Oldies collection and hopes radio stations will not let music collect dust in their libraries.
Speaking for Lotus FM, SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago confirmed the 90:10 (local:foreign) music quota had been been set aside.
He said: “The broadcaster’s radio stations will follow guidelines set by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, with variation between stations.”
While the president of the Save Our Lotus FM campaign, Ashwin Trikamjee, lauded the station’s efforts and was confident Lotus FM would recover, he stressed support for local music.
“We believe this can be achieved over a period with a gradual phasing-in of local music,” he said.
Radio Hindvani chief operating officer Rajish Lutchman said the station was committed to promoting local music.
“Local music has the potential to grow, and academic tools are needed to help this process,” he said.
But the issue seems to extend beyond broadcasting if artists hope to make it big.
Virendra Mohan saw a problem with record and concert deals. “Overseas artists get promoted the moment they are recognised as a singer and our audiences are willing to pay R1000 a ticket to watch them perform, but local singers struggle to sell a ticket for R50.”
Mohan urged listeners to take pride in local music and listen to the notes.
“We rehearse to the ‘T’ and we want our audiences to enjoy our music,” he said.
Prominent KZN musician Pravesh Sunker spoke of his struggle in a band in the 1970s: “Big promoters never had confidence in us. Now I help other artists achieve their goals.”
He advised artists to focus on creating original content and pronouncing words correctly. They needed to be versatile and improvise beats or change lines to do justice to the songs.