Moshito Bang!

The 2010 Moshito Music Conference and Exhibition got off to a busy start on September 1st as delegates streamed into Museum Africa, Newtown, to take part in day one of the jam-packed conference programme.

The event was opened by the Director General of the Department of Arts and Culture, Themba Wakashe, and the MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation at the Gauteng Provincial Government, Ms Nelisiwe Moerane.

Both speakers emphasised the need for unity in the music sector to allow it to engage with government and that Moshito is a collective of seven national music industry structures. Wakashe revealed that the July Lekgotla had identified the music industry as a key area of focus for Cabinet. The DG and MEC also both re-emphasised the industry’s role in national-building, social-cohesion and fostering national pride.

From this upbeat Spring Day opening, delegates moved to several plenary and breakaway sessions that began the business of tackling many of the key issues facing the South African music industry.

One of the most contentious is the growing impact of so-called 360 Degree deals being offered to artists and speaker Deon Maas of Meerkat Media pulled no punches in warning delegates against “walking out of here and signing a deal like this just because you want to be on the cover of a magazine”. “I tell every artist I speak to, to release their first album independently and then do the shortest deal with a label possible,” Maas said.

Other sessions that got delegates talking included a look at the South African Music industry from 1994 to 2010 as well as a session that took a look at how technology impacts the music business. Delegates who attended the Moshito Storytelling session – sub-titled ‘Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow’ – were treated to an intimate, warm-hearted session that saw legends Ray Phiri and Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse joined by contemporary artist Selaelo Selota in giving insight into their successes, challenges and motivations.

Moshito’s emphasis on development and skills transfer was underscored with two sessions – the Music Business Starter Kit and a breakaway session on ‘Social Security’ where CWUSA gave an update on the progress of its creative-worker friendly package of financial goods and services being developed with Old Mutual and SAMRO also outlined its offerings. The Business and Arts South Africa Hands On, Mic Off! Workshops – which run for free during the full Moshito – also gave delegates practical tools to ensure the sustainability of their careers in the music industry.

Day two of Moshito 2010 gets underway this morning with more stimulating conference sessions, the informative Expo, Youth Rock and Hip Hop Showcase taking place at OST and acoustic soul sounds at Sophiatown in the Newtown precinct from 18h00 .