E740 000 FOR SWAMA AWARDS

EZULWINI – “The sponsorship left me smiling - I was happy to see more money being injected into the arts industry”

These words were shared by the award winning RnB/afro soul singer Amanda Mo soon after the third edition of the SWAMA awards were officially launched on Monday evening.

The songstress, who is currently enjoying her sky-rocketing musical career, said she was all about growth and it warmed her heart to see an increased budget for this year’s awards ceremony.

“We are in the music industry to make money. We work hard to grow the industry and it is great to see big companies also investing towards the development of the music industry.

“I was happy with the sponsorship, the growth and the support the awards ceremony has received especially from government as I saw a number of legislators today, something that was not happening before,” she said.

Launch

After the official launch, it was clear that artists were impressed with this year’s package as upcoming singer Popzin also said he was impressed with the budget and support afforded to the awards ceremony. He even hoped to bag a few awards during the main ceremony in December 7.
 His words were echoed by rapper Illa Penboy and Umfana Webhejisa. Another game-changer in the entertainment scene, Jiggs Thorne of House on Fire, said he was awestruck with the continuity and development that the awards ceremony has maintained.

“We need more platforms like this for the arts industry to continue to grow,” he said.
The launch saw legendary musicians, promoters and other stakeholders gracing the event. SWAMA made it known that the main focus for this year’s awards was music. This move saw categories such as that of Comedian of the Year being scraped.

This year’s budget stands at E740 000, which is an increase from last year’s E700 000.
While speaking on behalf of SWAMA, President Melusi ‘Zox’ Dlamini thanked the support afforded to them and announced that 20 categories would be contested this year.

He added that  the theme for this year’s event was ‘Monetise your music’ which he said was an idea that was informed by the need for artists to transform their informal ‘hustle’, into formal processes that can be quantified.
He said the entry period would be one month- only beginning today until July 26.

“Nominees will be announced on Monday, August 5 and eventual winners will be announced and celebrated at a glittering yellow carpet ceremony to be held at Royal Swazi Spa Convention Centre on December 7,” he added.

According to Dlamini, entries are open to all musicians who have released work between May 31, 2018 and the July 26, 2019 across the first 17 categories.

“The Nominations process will be fully digital this year - artists, their managers, record labels must nominate themselves for the relevant categories by submitting entries via WhatsApp to 76060971. They must submit The Artist Bio/Profile, with a High-resolution image, links to their work, social media handles and categories entered for,” he said. 

Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Harries Bulunga said they were committed in the developing the arts industry.
“As a ministry our mandate is to look after this sector, we, through our Arts and Culture Council, commit ourselves to delivering a conducive environment for the continued growth of the arts industry in the Kingdom.“We are delighted to have the Copyright Act of 2017 in place and we have now turned our focus into fast-tracking the coming of the Arts and Culture Bill into law.

This is a piece of legislation which we believe will take us a step closer to professionalising the arts industry, ensuring that our artists are able to earn a decent living out of their craft as per this year’s SWAMA Awards theme ‘Monetize your Music,” he said.

The Prime Minister Mandvulo Dlamini said the theme was in line with the government’s drive to resuscitate the economy through a multi-faceted approach.

Impact

“The social value and impact of arts shall continue to from part of the government’s agenda. We have seen how the Arts sector has become a potential employer in the country and we believe a well-structured and deliberate approach to its development is likely to reduce the rate of high unemployment among the youth,” he added.

He encouraged the public and the corporate world to support the arts industry.
Dlamini then honoured the late Mike Temple for the big role he played in the entertainment scene.
On social media, the categories took the spotlight away from the initial launch as social media platforms were abuzz with users questioning why other categories were not included for this year’s ceremony.

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