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There are no successful record labels in Zimbabwe. I hate to say this but they all suck. The best route for any artist with a brain should take is staying independent and putting more effort into the YouTube hustle. Another thing is some people don’t want to understand the business they just wanna make money.

Lenard

Lenard Maseko
The question of inquiring about the current modus operandi of record labels in Zimbabwe is one that immediately leads you to a facepalm gesture. Perhaps, you could remain in that facepalm gesture and slowly open one eye to see if you can find any innovative and leading-edge record companies in Zimbabwe.

So long story short, and as for record companies in Zimbabwe, you can pretty much equate them to briefcase companies or phantom companies because even though some may be legally registered business entities they do nothing that Zim artists can't do for themselves.

In fact, most contemporary and prominent Zim artists have been going strong without the need for standard record label deals as you would expect in other parts of the world.

The new age of interactive streaming music services such as YouTube, Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, etc has thus benefited Zim artists in terms of the following:
  • Improved Internet Marketing Strategies & Brand Visibility
  • Improved International Music Distribution
  • Opportunities for Increased Revenue Income Stream (e.g., YouTube Partnership Program & royalties from Spotify, etc)
Now to address the main challenges record companies in Zimbabwe face we will briefly list them as follows:
  • The business of music in Zimbabwe has been impacted by easy-going law enforcement towards intellectual property.
  • Lack of investor confidence to fund record companies due to turbulent political and economic upheavals.
 

Queen

grand master
Some Zim artists end up getting signed to South African record labels like Universal Music Group etc. There aren't too many successful record companies in Zim because of the poor economy.
 

Numero Uno

grand master
Some Zim artists end up getting signed to South African record labels like Universal Music Group etc. There aren't too many successful record companies in Zim because of the poor economy.

I thought one wouldn't need to be a billionaire to set up a record label.
 

Queen

grand master
I thought one wouldn't need to be billionaire to set up a record label?

Yes, but imagine trying to make a living in Zimbabwe through music only. Some have tried it and failed dismally time after time. The most promising way is through YouTube and other online music streaming platforms. That has the potential to reduce business costs, unlike back in the day.
 

Lenard

Lenard Maseko
What about the process of setting up a record company in South Africa how does that work?

Starting a record label in South Africa or anywhere else in the world is all about having an in-depth understanding of the music industry and business law in that particular environment.

There are certain things that you have to put into consideration or should we say a checklist of how you want to structure your record label in South Africa.

For example, you can choose to start a Holding Company which operates different subsidiaries. This means you can have "Subsidiary Company A" main focus being SA House Music whilst "Subsidiary Company B" being SA Hip Hop music. You get the idea, don't you?

But if you want the main focus for your record label to be on one particular genre of music you can pretty much decide whether you are interested in SA House Music or SA Hip Hop music since these two are the most popular genres of music in South Africa.

Or better yet you can venture into other genres of music that are marketable in the South African music industry.

Structuring your record label​

When we talk of the business structure for your record label in South Africa we are basically referring to how you want your legal business entity to be chartered or to be formed in full correspondence to South African company law.

For instance, you can either decide to form your record company as a corporation or as a private company. But there shouldn't be any chance that you would want to start a record label in South Africa as a sole proprietor or sole trader because that comes with unlimited liability which is bad news if ever you encounter a lawsuit coming your way.

Please be informed, that the decision to structure your record label as a corporation in South Africa requires extensive legal paperwork and a capable board representation to enforce good corporate governance with the end result that the record company might eventually be listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) if all the necessary legal requirements are met.

Alternatively, setting up a private limited company will be more realistic if you don't want to go through the JSE listing process and if you also want to avoid being liable to public scrutiny including the costly legal and filing fees that are synonymous with corporations.

N.B. In South Africa, you can register your private limited company at the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro). Private companies in South Africa are recognized with the suffix "(Pty) Ltd" while public corporations are easily recognizable with the designation "Ltd".

For example, "Company X Records (Pty) Ltd" would mean it's a private company registered in South Africa. On the other hand "Company Y Records Ltd" suggests that the company is a registered public company in South Africa.

How to choose a name for your record label​

Given that you have decided that you want your record label to be either a public company or a private limited company. The next step is to choose a name for your record label using the following basic lines of thought:
  • The company name you intend to use for your record label should NOT be registered to any entity. Look out for other trademarked names as well.
  • It's highly advisable to choose a company name where the website domain name is also available. This is beneficial not only for SEO purposes but for other interested individuals to quickly recognize your online presence and get in touch for deals or endorsements.
  • It's also recommended that you choose a record label name that is easy to pronounce for marketing purposes. For example, don't settle for stupid or silly names. Branding is very important for future investment deals.
 

Scorpio

grand master
There aren't too many successful record companies in Zimbabwe because of the poor economy.

People don't understand it's a numbers game, including the fact that if the artists on a record label aren't at the top of the music food chain they will be dropped!

Even artists across other poor nations have also got dropped from small start-up music record companies when they feel the pinch of their local economy and were caught up in financial woes. The same is true for the Zim music industry.
 

Black Panther

grand master
Why do modern record labels spend so much money when there is the internet though?

You have to factor in costs of recording studio time, sound engineering costs, promotion of the album or single, and any other sundry music business costs. So it's quite easy in the music industry to spend so much money.
 
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Lamercedes

guest
There are no successful record labels in Zimbabwe. I hate to say this but they all suck. The best route for any artist with a brain should take is staying independent and putting more effort into the YouTube hustle. Another thing is some people don’t want to understand the business they just wanna make money.
 
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Why do you say that?

I guess one of the main problems with music stables in Zim is a lack of talent development. I know many folks are quick to blame the economy but the thing is many of these stables only want to work with who is hot at the moment and when the chips are down they are too quick to discard you. Perhaps in some cases, it's the other way around—that is, the artists themselves start to feel themselves a little too much and think they can do everything without a label's support.
 
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Nyikadzino

guest
I guess one of the main problems with music stables in Zim is a lack of talent development.

I agree especially Zimdaansaal myuuzik. In fact, I personally think that Zimdaansaal is largely responsible for the moral decay and fuelling of substance abuse. Anyone can clearly see this type of music is associated with chaos, nudity, and vulgar language. I say this because if you notice the trend since inception we had decent artists during the urban grooves movement those artists had a message of decent reggae spin-offs. Now it's a free-for-all and one just needs to attend a Zimdaansaal live show to see what I am saying.
 
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Lamercedes

guest
Why do you say that?

Because the modern generation of Zim musicians doesn't like constructive criticism. I mean the majority of it. It's like almost every Zimdancehall artist or Zim hip-hop rapper anotorine song yevavengi. Sometimes criticism is good in life it makes people improve from their shortcomings.
 

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