Promoter wants 70% of local content on radio
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Friday January 10, 2020 13:58
He is also decrying the huge sums of money Copyright Society of Botswana (COSBOTS) pays to foreign artists whose works enjoy more airplay.
‘PP wa Pimp’ as Seagile is commonly know has embarked on a campaign, calling on broadcasters to give local musicians a bigger share of airplay than their foreign counterparts.
He is saying the current quota of 60/40, whereby foreign content receives 60% airplay and local songs share the remaining 40% is outdated and is not working for the local creative industry.
“We are losing a lot of money to outside artists because their music is dominating the local airwaves. The 60/40 quota was good in the past when RB1 began because we did not have enough local content to feed it. There were a few recording artists as such the station survived through foreign content. But now we are saying let us be given a bigger share of 70%,” said Seagile. He added that with proper exposure, the creative industry could contribute more to the gross domestic product (GDP) in the future.
According to Seagile, the local creative industry has evolved overtime and has produced enough content to feed all the local radio stations.
However, he indicated that as it is, the industry remains stagnant because there is no room for exposure. He argued that currently the creative industry’s contribution to the GDP is higher than Agriculture but does to not get the respect it deserves.
“Our neighbours are giving 90% to locals and only 10% to foreign content. This means they are empowering their people and creating sustainable jobs. It means only 10% of the money paid as royalties is going out of the country while 90% remains in the country for the local artists to further develop,” he added.
He indicated that they have scheduled a meeting on January 15, where industry players who include artists, promoters and producers will have further discussion on the issue and formulate a position paper to be presented to stakeholders like COSBOTS, broadcasters and the regulator, the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority.
“There has been a blame game amongst the three, so we want to know the truth and come up with solutions,” he explained. He continued to say that currently the country has a few well known artists such as Franco, Vee Mampeezy, Charma gal, Dramaboi and ATI who are dominant features at various shows but when they are unavailable, promoters are sceptical to hold shows with a line up full of lesser known artists.