The Covid-19 pandemic has been a wake up call to many artists and other stakeholders in the music industry to digitalise music.  

By Argus Mepo 

Everything has totally changed, gone are the days when a hit-song could be benchmarked and determined by the plays and the relevance of the song in the streets (kombis, barbers, passa passas and other key hotspots).

The pandemic has closed all these avenues that opened floodgates of breakthroughs to many artists.

Lest we not forget how that the careers of artists like Enzo Ishall, Blot, Bazooker, Soul Jah Love, Seh Calaz and Bounty Lisa, to mention just a few  were facilitated by the streets. From corner to corner their music trended and their careers flourished. 

On that same note, piracy has also played a big role in pushing and moulding the careers of various artists. It has expanded the reach of the struggling musicians to a much more bigger and broader audience. The generation of Killer T, Seh Calaz, Kinnah, Freeman, Lady Squanda, Jah Love, Ricky Fire, among others can testify that the DJs and other individuals who dubbed their music and sold CDs of their music aided to their rise to stardom.

Nevertheless, piracy is also detrimental to the growth of the industry and is illegal as well.

However, in the past, piracy was a variable that could generate popularity and the by product of popularity was more live shows hence artists castigated and embraced piracy at the same time because they could make money and a living out of it. 

Artists in Zimbabwe mainly rely on liveshows as their main source of revenue and the pandemic has adversely affected them.

This is a devastating challenge that most artists face especially those who solely rely on music and has been further worsened by the lack of policy measures by the government to cushion the artists. 

Against this background, artists must embrace the digital space and move on. They must utilise music stores like iTunes, Deezer, Spotify and Youtube, to mention just a few. 

These sites play a critical role in maintaining the relevance of the artists since they mainly rely on the streets which have been shut as a result of the pandemic. 

In addition, artists can also generate some revenue through music sells and streams from these sites rather than depending on liveshows for survival. 

Artists must embrace the modern ways of promoting and pushing music since because of the enormous benefits that are brought about by digitalisation.