The 2nd edition of the Zimbancehall Summit held on the 30th of June 2020 online provoked a lot of important discussions, oftentimes charged but pertinent to the growth of the music genre and music in general. The summit left a lot of points which have remained a point of conversation online and within the Zimdancehall circles.

By Earground

Was the conference a success? Did the organisers achieve their goals? Did the panelists deliver well? Did the artists benefit something ? Well, these are the questions we pose some questions to one of the organisers of the event Everjoy Blair affectionately known as Dj Everjoy in the music industry.

Q: Was the Zimdancehall Summit successful?

A: Definitely! It was a huge success. All panelists we invited showed up and made great contribution. Secondly the topics we selected were very relevant to what is happening right now on the ground and the speakers managed to break down and tackle some of the issues such as copyright which are causing disruption and confusion

Q: What were some of the key take aways from the discussion? 

1. We need to be confident in the Zimdancehall sound, embrace and own it because it’s got some uniqueness though it’s emulates Dancehall and Reggae and has potential to be accepted world over.
2. Artists need to be woke and have dialogue and understanding with collaborators and also have written agreements or contracts whose clauses they totally understand to avoid chaos and bad talk on the genre that we so much want to reach far.
3. Artists and collaborators need to learn more about Intellectual Property and have their work protected.
4. There is need for documentation of the roots of Zimdancehall so that there is a foundation that aids to the understanding of the evolution and progress of the genre up to where we are and where we aim to go.
5. We need a refined structural system of Zimdancehall to enable smooth relations and good communication among artists producers distributors promoters and media so that we amplify the genre in one voice.
6. There is need for models to monitor the success and reach of Zimdancehall as we aim to appeal to the region and globally not only as individual/independent artists but as a genre. Getting endorsements and acknowledgement.

Q: What do you hope to see improved on the next edition? 

1. Some people felt left out so there is need to reach out more to the different stakeholders to encourage more engagement in programs to uplift the genre.
2. There are so many studios/ record labels producing Zimdancehall so there is need to identify them, involve them and ensure extensive engagement of the people who are actually active in the genre and directly affected by the topics discussed.