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Tafadzwa Zimoyo Senior Arts Reporter
Some music analysts argue that Zimdancehall is the trending genre while others say sungura and gospel are timeless genres.

In an age where seeing is believing, releasing music without visuals is setting oneself up for failure.
Winky D’s new album, “Njema”, seems to be failing to stand the test of time.
Less than three months after its launch, the album enjoyed reasonable airplay soon after release but seems to be fading.

Could it be a sign?
The seeming failure could be attributed to Winky D’s decision to market his album just weeks before its release on December 31. He also tried to “politicise” the launch while some tracks could have been leaked before release.

It is a fact he is a good musician and one cannot take that away from him.
He is the man who gave us popular tracks like “Simba”, “Disappear”, “Musarova Bigman”, “Gafa Life” and “Green Like Mi Garden” among others.

Even the little ones would sing along to these good tunes.
This is because the songs were good and could be played everywhere.
But with his latest release, Winky D seems to have missed the mark as he has not yet generated his usual noise.

He should stop assuming because he is a “superstar” his music can even be played in a mortuary and awaken the dead.

Everyone knows that a musical beat can be used by 10 or more people and they can produce different songs.

Winky D appears stuck in that composition mode, which is not bad. Even icons such as the late national hero Oliver Mtukudzi used the same tunes on their albums but never lost their identity.

Where is the Winky D we all dearly loved, who did not divide the nation but could make a person jump onto public transport because they are playing his music?

With his latest offering he only made headlines, attracted attention before the album launch, which sadly has not lived up to expectations.

His greatest undoing was his failure to produce accompanying videos, to complement some of the songs.
One cannot delay making videos once you release a new song or songs because visuals play a pivotal role, just like what he did with “MuGarden”, featuring Gemma Griffiths.

The album launch was successful although it faced some technical and logistical challenges.
Gone are the days when Winky D could release a litany of good songs, which were often well received by his legion of fans.

Winky needs to appreciate the changing dynamics within the arts sector, where musicians now release accompanying videos to hype up the latest releases.

Even on the regional and international scenes, musicians are using visuals to promote an album.
They are taking that approach because they want to increase the life span of their songs, so that the products remain on listeners’ playlists.

Some artistes are also investing a lot through promotional activities as part of their efforts to build and sustain a brand.

Instead of spending months or years working on a full album—followed by three months of costly promotions, and a year of touring and producing videos —some artistes are releasing a steady stream of music throughout the year and then repackaging the tracks into albums with additional songs.

In recent years, artistes have also begun touring more to make up for declining record sales, expanding their merchandise collections, and looking to feature their music in ads, television shows, movies or video games, among other methods for boosting income.

However, all hope is not lost on “Njema”, which can be salvaged through the production of accompanying videos on some of the songs.