Competition, egos versus quality stifling industry growth

Unnecessary competition among local musicians is compromising the quality of content production, veteran musician Lucius Banda has observed.

Banda says the current crop of artists is struggling to come up with quality music, because they have prioritized competition above everything else.

Some artists have not only produced music that would sale, but gone to produce content that others and fans have deemed as publicity stunts.

It is such kind of music that Banda bemoans, arguing it is affecting growth of the industry.

Speaking to Capital FM, Banda stressed that most of the substandard music enjoying airplay cannot breakthrough to the international scene, because most of it is produced impatiently out of competition.

“They are approaching their musical career in a competitive manner. They are doing it out of desperation to impress their audience which is resulting in immature composition of music for the sake of being at the top of trends,” Banda explained.

Banda is popular for his timeless song releases that talk about social issues embedded in enticing lyrical content, with his latest hit titled ‘Bisa’ enjoying airplay across local radio stations as well as streaming sites.

In his opinion Fatsani Che Kalonda, known by his stage name Blackjack, said artists possess different qualities which makes them unique throughout the course of their careers.

Blackjack insists that most artists use popular international genres when composing and producing their music, which limits their ability to create unique sounds, a situation that makes them seem like they are competitive.

“Every artist wants to stand out in the music which they make. By the way these are artists who idolize a particular superstar according to the genre of their choice. This makes it look like they are competing in a way,” Blackjack explained.

In the end people want music that can cut across generations, and not only pop and blast that will be forgotten.