Ko Setlhareng's Shade Faces Gloom
Spira Tlhankane | Monday March 1, 2021 14:47
The tale seems as old as time, but Ko Setlhareng.com as the place is popularly known used to be a shining example of how physical records remain the top choice for music purists over digital streaming.
Placed exactly along the mall’s pedestrian only walkway, Ko Setlhareng has seen it all from the time when cassettes hit their sales peak to an era when the latter was phased out by CDs. Although Ko Setlhareng.Com didn’t exist during the popularity of vinyl records, the place is a reminder for some people who are still nostalgic about the good old days when music lovers winded tapes by hand with a pen and turned it over at the end of each side. It is a reminder of the era of the Omega radio powered by either the black/white PM10 battery or red/white Eveready batteries. Ko Setlhareng.Com takes one to the period of the Sony Walkman, when selling cassette tapes was a real money-making business in the music industry. The time when one’s Motokara (Motor car) came equipped with a tape deck and always had a cassette loaded.
Those days are gone but Ko Setlhareng.Com still remains under that seemingly immortal acacia tree selling the greatest music that has stood the test of time. All this physical audio format talk might seem negating to the time we’re in, when consumers are relying on streaming platforms in lieu of physical media but Ko Setlhareng.Com music merchant Eric Lebanna said the business survived all these years because of record labels.
“Setlhare started in the beginning of the current millennia when we were pushing cassettes at the time but people did not believe much that one can make a living out of selling cassettes,” he said, recalling how they started from humble beginnings.
He said at the time the business was pushed by key players in the music industry like the Ramogobya brothers, namesake Eric and Tex through their record labels Eric Ramco Records and Kalakuta Records respectively.
Lebanna said when CDs arrived in the market, they really pushed their business because people were always excited to try out new technology. “Back then, people loved to buy CDs. A person would come straight from the night club to buy music they heard ko maitisong,” he recalled.
Lebanna said another thing that makes Setlhare unique is that their specialty is the classics and the oldies, which are rare to find even in the digital platforms. In January, the owner of music store Musica Clicks Group announced that it will close its doors in Botswana at the end of May after failing to keep up with the rise of digital streaming and online entertainment. However, not so with KoSetlhareng.com where Lebanna vowed to stay the course. He revealed that they were never going to stop selling music despite the current challenges brought about by the pandemic. “COVID-19 has hit us hard because most of our best selling stock comes from Johannesburg in South Africa. The fact that we can’t constantly cross borders like we used to means that we can’t get the classics people want like Mpharanyane and Mahlathini. Even our local music has been affected when it comes to the production of CDs,” he highlighted.
In today’s era which has drifted drastically to the digital consumption of music, Lebanna also pointed out that they were not just sitting on their laurels, but rather exploring other avenues to stay relevant post pandemic. He said besides the pandemic, their long time challenge has been piracy because it impacted badly on the business as a whole. “We don’t want piracy that is why Setlhare is here. It is a brand that has been pushing the sale of original records for years. We always tell artists to bring their music here and that way everybody wins,” he added.
Lebanna said it is not like they don’t sell local music than before, but the advent of releasing singles rather than albums has destroyed a lot. “Most of these singles are released as free downloads in digital platforms so you cannot make money that way,” he said. He advised local artists to release albums.
For CDs, an audio format which some might consider old-fashioned, there are many music fans who still embrace the quirks of physical formats. Many music lovers enthuse about the physical and tangible nature of CDs compared to streaming. Speaking of streaming, global music streaming service Spotify is making a giant leap into Africa, with a launch into 39 more African nations including Botswana. The streaming platform is one the largest music streaming platform in the world. Before Spotify’s arrival in Botswana, the music streaming market has players like Audiomack, Youtube Music, Apple Music, Shazam, Deezer which rivalled music traders like Ko Setlhareng.Com.