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Jonathan Mbiriyamveka Entertainment Reporter
The return of the Zimbabwe Music Awards after a seven year lull is most welcome as it has ignited a frenzied excitement within the creative industry. Stakeholders in the industry said that the awards were an important part of the celebration and recognition of the diverse talents across genres.
So huge were the ZIMAs that fans and musicians alike looked forward to the ceremony each year.

However, according to Joseph Nyadzayo, the chairperson of ZIMA, the awards show took a break owing to economic down turn that affected the operations not just in music circles but also the entire nation.

While Nyadzayo is very passionate about the development of the music industry, it has almost been impossible for him and his team to go it alone without the corporate support.

For instance, the South African Music Awards have been held over the years by one of the biggest mobile networks MTN.

And throughout those years, the SAMAs as they are popularly known have become credible because first and foremost corporate sponsorship and secondly, the awards are based on merit.

For any awards show to be credible the recognition should be given to deserving winners.

It is one thing for people to like an artiste and another to award artistes based on merit.

Oddly enough, in Zimbabwe there seems to be a culture of giving credit where it is not due. Just because people like so and so, they make sure that those that they do not like are sidelined from everything.

But surprisingly, those who are sidelined will always come tops like cream.

In other words, for any awards show to succeed there is need for transparency, accountability and fairness.

The Herald Entertainment asked  some stakeholders in the music industry whether or not the ZIMAs were of any value to the development of artistes.

While it was generally agreed that the ZIMAs were essential for the growth of the industry, a number of issues were raised with regards to the nomination and the administration of the awards.

Radio and television personality Tich Mataz said the awards were primarily to celebrate and acknowledge the success of the artistes.

“I will tell you that its two-pronged. The awards should be based on two platforms and number one its driven by the listeners and secondly, the sales. Now that since there are no music sales to talk about due to piracy there are no credible sales figures so it is now the listeners. But again, the listeners do not have a proper platform to do that. So you will find out that the awards are being run as a business by businessmen. That on its own causes problems.

“Look, in other places I don’t have to like an artiste but I should be more concerned about their work. Organisers should allow artistes to do their job and whoever comes up with a product deserves to win. It’s unfortunate that in Zimbabwe we have a culture of sidelining those who are talented just because we don’t like them. But again we get surprised when we see that person doing well elsewhere,” he said.

Tatea Da MC, a member of the award winning group MMT said the ZIMAs were long overdue.

“You see in hip-hop we had our own Zim-Hip Hop Awards because a number of artistes wanted that recognition. So, if rappers don’t get that recognition they tend to rate themselves. We sing about being the hottest acts and stuff because nobody is doing it. So yes, this is a welcome development despite the flaws that might come with it,” he said.

Veteran township love singer Tanga Wekwa Sando reiterated that while the idea of awards was noble, there was need for fairness and transparency.

“Well, the awards do add value, it’s good for the CV of any artiste. However, the value of any award is determined by how they are organised in terms of transparency and creditability.

“For instance, if people who don’t deserve to win are awarded then the award loses meaning. What we have to ask is ‘are these awards done to please some people, a certain clan or connections’? In other words, people should want to enter the awards. Often some nominees are used to dignify something that is flawed. We have seen some names being thrown around so that when a winner is handpicked the organisers would claim that everything was done above board,” Tanga Wekwa Sando said.

On the whole, organisers of the ZIMAs have a duty to ensure that whatever result they come up with, it has to be consistent with the will of the stakeholders who in this case are the fans and musicians.