Get your favourite artists’ Greatest Moments on CD

Published Feb 18, 2015

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Some people collect stamps, others coins, and others music and if you love your local legends, then the Greatest Moments series is just what you need. The project is a collection of greatest hits by several musicians including Lundi, Lucky Dube nd Lady Smith Black Mambazo. It is the kind of collection that encapsulates where we, as a nation, have been musically.

“Basically, the Greatest Moments came about as a result of a couple things that happened. Gallo bought Bula Music and Sheer Sound which now consolidates us into a major player in the domestic and international markets. We decided to bring in a new range of what we have and hinting at what’s to come from the combined labels,” said Neil Greenberg, the general manager of Gallo Record Company.

While the collection is impressive given the number of artists the three companies hold, Greenberg said that it was something they are used to doing.

“We have always been catalogue kings in the country, especially in Maskandi and gospel. We always want to promote the heritage of what we have so Greatest Moments does just that. There is a huge physical and digital campaign behind it,” he said.

With so much talent having have passed through their studios, one has to wonder who made the cut for the compilations.

“When selecting artists it is all based on catalogue knowledge and their popularity. So you take 50 artists, where 70 percent are premium artists, and you add some of those artists who may not have been very successful and do a mix and a match. This is not to say that there are artists better than others, but we just try to treat them the same as much as possible,” explained Greenberg.

The music of most of these artists is found illegally on the internet and the streets and, in a way, this project addresses that. On the one hand people love cheaper options, but on the other they want quality as well. Greatest Moments is inexpensive, with great quality, has the favourite hits and is legal.

“It is an introductory selection with a whole lot more coming. We are looking at broader marketing and will peg the mid-pricing levels so it is affordable,” expanded Greenberg. “We are like a fantastic spaza shop, if you like, and this range is a long-term product and we are looking at coming up with another range,” he added.

The South African music industry is not entirely signed to Gallo so we had to find out if the Greatest Moments arm could be extended to other record labels.

“There is really no intellectual property when it comes to compilations, but it is just a sticky process. We could ask Lira to be part of it, for argument’s sake, and Sony can then say: ‘Why should we give you our artist to exploit?’ So there is a competition aspect to it and it means we are unlikely to pursue that. Gallo has done well with its own compilations in the past. Other labels have copied what we do and so we are fine really. We even have another project called Divine Jazz which we will be rolling out at a later stage,” he added.

• Get your favourite artist in the Greatest Moments series in stores and on iTunes.

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