Locally-Developed Streaming Platform Set to Transform Entertainment in Southern Africa
Music producers Michael Mupotaringa and Raymond Sibanda affectionately known as Rayo Beats , who recently launched a streaming platform called Audiocus , yesterday confirmed that that they are in the beta testing of subscription plans for the site, so that artists can get paid for their work.
The Streaming site already has 13800 artists and it allows artists to sign up, stream and upload their music on their own just like on other streaming platforms.
Michael Mupotaringa affectionately known as Mc Potar confirmed that the platform seeks to give independent artists from Zimbabwe a chance to be prioritized and ranked on the front page unlike other major streaming platforms which prioritize American based Artists.
Michael Mupotaringa (Mc Potar)
“We always wanted to have a platform where independent artists from Zimbabwe can be prioritized and ranked on the front page. If you go to spotify or iTunes for the first time you will likely see a priority of American Based artists like Beyoncé, Rihanna and Jay Z on the home page. Discovery of Zimbabwean artists will require you to use the search bar. We wanted something home-grown.”, said Mupotaringa.
The introduction of subscription plans, on the Audiocus site, will see many artists get paid for their work, a relief as most Radio stations and TV stations in Zimbabwe are failing to pay musicians their royalties, leaving many to depend on live shows for income or in most cases getting another job in order to finance their music career.
Since the launch of the platform, it has received positive reception from many people in the music industry as shown by the social media buzz with many rising stars like Dialektric Blue, Jungle loco, Scrip Mula and Lincoln Ngorima joining the streaming site.
“The reception has largely been positive from new artists. However amongst veteran artists the reception is mixed. There are some who still need convincing to get on board and yet there are some amongst the veterans who contacted us to exclusively drop their albums,” added Mupotaringa.
The subscription plan will involve music lovers signing up to listen to artists without ad interruptions amongst other perks. Artists will get paid from the revenue generated by subscriptions and placement plans by corporations using a pro-rata system.
“We are blocking out the entire first quarter, to work on the codes that enable the subscriptions to work fairly. We will announce soon as our beta testing is done. Hopefully it will be ready within the first 3 months of 2023.”said Mupotaringa.
Award winning Masvingo rapper Jungle Loco, whose album Gwala Mnandi has more than 7000 streams on the Audiocus platform, expressed his gratitude that at least Zimbabwe now has its own streaming platform.
“That really sparks a great feeling knowing that at least we have our own streaming platform, it is now easier for Zimbabwean artists. I am very happy for the Audiocus team and I also pray some of the big artists in Zimbabwe will jump in,” said Jungle Loco.
