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Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
GOVERNMENT is committed to supporting musicians and ensure that they get value from their work by fighting piracy, Deputy Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Tabeth Malinga has said.

Deputy Minister Malinga said this last Friday while officiating at the launch of gospel hip-hop artiste Mudiwa Mutandwa’s second album.

“As a ministry we are there to support musicians. My office is open to every musician so you can come at any time and knock at my door and I will assist you in any way I can,” Deputy Minister Malinga said.

She encouraged musicians to be original and propagate positive messages that promote Zimbabwe’s culture.

“I encourage musicians to be original, presentable and put value to their brand. Our music should be positive and promote Zimbabwe’s culture,” she said.

The Deputy Minister urged Mudiwa to remain humble and continue to be a role model to youths.

“To Mudiwa, I say you should remain upright and behave well so that you continue to be a role model to youths,” she said.

The event was attended by various other musicians among them Peter Moyo, Thembelani, Shingirai Sabeta (Mau Mau) and BaShupi.

Deputy Minister Malinga urged musicians to support each other irrespective of the genres they sing.

She also said Government was working flat out to curb piracy that has seen musicians and other artistes getting little returns from their works.

In a video message to guests who attended the event, Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, Supa Mandiwanzira said musicians should also take advantage of the latest information communication technologies to market their music.

“Artistes should begin to earn money through their music, but how do we do it with piracy? We need to do something about it, we need to use ICT,” he said.

“As a ministry we are supporting those into programming to come up with programmes which will allow musicians to sell their music through online platforms or mobile platforms.”

Mudiwa expressed his happiness at the launch of his second album.

“I am grateful to have launched my second album and I want to thank everyone for the support and my father Uebert Angel,” he said.

Mudiwa added that his songs were based on the Bible and inspired by what he sees in people’s daily lives.

One of the songs on the album, “Number 1” is currently topping the charts.