The late King of Pop Michael Jackson is one musician whose colourful music career made him an icon world over and one of the richest entertainers.
Though his career was characterised by controversy, he left an indelible mark in the entertainment industry and an investment his family is still benefiting from after his untimely death.
Such success is usually attributed to how the musician is able to manage both fame and money, which many of our local musicians are failing to do. Like footballers, musicians can easily become instant millionaires at any time of their careers, but it is quite sad how they are easily carried away by leading extravagant lives.
They forget there is life after music and that fame and fortune can be temporary.
But the musicians become so parochial and seem to believe income will keep on flowing and they would continue filling venues.
They lack support mechanisms to aid their livelihoods in case of emergency or when their popularity fades.
It is a sad reality at the end of the day seeing your hero — a once popular musician — living like a vagabond.
This is mainly caused by bad styles of management and failing to properly plan for the future by most artists.
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Hence there is need for proper orientation or some sort of training to assist musicians on how they can make good use of their money and plan for a better future.
Successful singers like Oliver Mtukudzi should be an inspiration and an example to local musicians. Tuku knew that he could not survive on selling records alone or live shows and he built Pakare Paye Arts Centre.
The centre is a big business venture for the superstar which apart from developing and nurturing young artistes has become a popular resort for tourists as well as locals who are fans of Tuku.
Musicians should invest in other businesses besides showbiz. The likes of Prince Tendai Mupfurutsa and Innocent Utsiwegota are other examples of musicians that do not only focus on showbiz, but manage a number of other businesses that can sustain them if they retire from music.
One serious challenge facing our music industry is poor management as some of managers running the affairs of big musicians seem not to know what management is all about.
Most of them are mere events organisers who know little about management. This is time for all relevant stakeholders like Zimbabwe Music Rights Association, Record Companies and National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) to assist musicians run their bands professionally.
These stakeholders should encourage musicians to adopt sound management practices in the day to day running of their bands.
The NACZ should come up with some sort of licensing of music managers. Such initiatives will help in the professional running of music business by correct people with the skills and expertise. Bands should be run as proper business with high levels of professionalism. Apart from all this musicians should be encouraged to have insurance policies and funeral policies.
There is need for career development programmes for musicians, actually handholding them to provide proper guidance for their development.
This will help artistes make informed decisions that develop their careers.
