So the SAMAs have come & gone. We didn’t win, but I had a great weekend.
Some thoughts on the weekend:
I loved the fact that while the newspapers have recently been full of fears and racial polarization, musicians on stage at the awards ceremony showed a different side. Die Heuwels Fantasties performed with the Soweto Gospel Choir. Jabu Khanyile and Karike Keuzenkamp were given lifetime achievement awards and a medley of their songs was performed in their honour. The show was slick and entertaining, and the host Trevor Noah did a great job.
While watching the show I was aware of how few of the artists I had heard of and how much new music is being produced in South Africa. I’m definitely going to buy more local music!
This was also a great networking opportunity and a chance to meet people from various parts of the music industry. I chatted to people in retail, record company executives, journalists and of course musicians. Much of the conversations revolved around the future of the music industry and how long we’ll be able to sell CDs. For once, the fact that South Africa is a little slower than Europe & the U.S. may be to our benefit. One retailer told me that they are still opening new CD stores around the country.
It was a real treat to have been a part of this event (see previous blog entry for more info on that!) and with two more kids CDs currently in production (and more in the planning stages) we hope to be back next year!
