AWARDS SEASON CAUSES STIR

MBABANE - Awards season is upon us as many local personalities in different entertainment segments are interacting with their  supporters to vote for them.

Since it is human nature for one to be at the top, these awards are usually competitive. Artists use their resources to organise support so that they are voted as the best. This leads us to the question: how do musicians benefit from these awards? It is very important that as an awards event organiser, you get to learn and appreciate the industry and its people and the reasons behind awarding them for the good work they have done in that year/season.

Although entertainment /lifestyle (these may include; music, social media, film, radio, fashion, creative arts etc) awards have for so long held a big place in the showbiz industry and for that critics in recent years have complained about their significance citing issues such as unfairness, arguing that organisers simply want to get quick money out of the business. Most award shows have been subjected to intense criticism to a point of being rendered pointless and these outcries have been expressed by people on social media and through conversations during social events.

However, those behind organising these award and some of the nominees claim that the role these events have to play is outstanding, arguing that without them, the entertainment industry could go down the drain. What do players of the entertainment industry have to make of this then? It is worth noting, however, that some of those who commented on the matter asked to stay anonymous as they feel they would appear as bitter over not previously winning or being nominated.

Hip hop artist and new comer in the music industry, Sibawu said music awards play a very significant role when it comes to boosting the local music industry. He said awards are one way of recognising and appreciating the hard work of an artist, adding that such a gesture gives morale to musicians to work even harder.
“We need this as musicians and the music industry at large. More awards in fact should come up and you will see how the industry grows. For us to achieve this, organisers need to work closely with artists to identify the gaps missing,” Sibawu said.

Xoliswa Dlamini known as ‘Miss X’ , a former social media influencer,  artist and award winner, argued that there’s no doubt those awards are important to the music industry. When well organised, awards are like the entire picture of the music industry,” she said. “Awards, in the first place, are a competition and yes, they do bring artists together. This is why many successful music industries have evolved because of such awards.”

A local DJ who wished to stay anonymous said that awards are what make a well-functioning industry, arguing that it is only normal for entertainers who have worked hard to be recognised for their work. However, she pin pointed that in most cases, this platform has been used by some people as a means of milking money out of the music industry. “At times you find the value of the awards being next to zero, therefore, nominations in most categories and the awarding system are unfair to the point where they give no value to the artists participating in the awards and minimise their status instead,” the DJ lamented.

Appreciate

She is of the view that organisers should learn to appreciate the talent and work of the musicians they want to award, and put in place a fair nomination and awarding system that will not favour undeserving artists and instead award real winners. “There must be transparency on how the nomination system starts until the day of the award ceremony, also we would appreciate as entertainers/creatives to be made aware if there have been any nominations made on our behalf,” she said.

She said most of these awards allegedly have a tendency of using brands of well-known/established personalities to  advertise the awards riding on the fact that that specific personality has a huge following or fan base thus guaranteed voting multitudes from them. “For everyone in the limelight, I believe they are conscious on what their brand is associated with and what they expose their followers to, therefore, I think it’s important for the orgnaiser of those awards to find out if we are interested in taking part before going ahead and nominating us without our consent when they know that at the end of the day they will award their friends or relatives, sometimes these things are just propaganda” she said.

Sandra Nhlengethwa, a huge supporter of entertainment industry awards, said the local industry has a long way to go and still has a lot to do in terms of promoting the entertainment industry. She agreed with the anonymous DJ and said what is killing the essence of awards is the unfairness that comes with how these awards are organised sometimes.

“This is what discourages entertainers from taking part and on the other hand, it makes people lose trust and interest. But if they are to be done in a fair manner, I am sure we will see our entertainment industry grow because these awards play a very important role in developing our music industry,” Nhlengethwa said.
Xokza on the other hand begs to differ, arguing that one can never know what really goes down during these awarding processes, and this is why he chooses to have faith in the system and only hopes for the best for the industry.

“It is impossible to make everyone happy because one can say awards are not fair if  they were not the winners. This is why it is important to look on the bright side, work hard, do the right thing and see that our industry continues growing,” he said. Xokza, who has hosted international artists to perform in the country, went on to say he does acknowledge that local awards are very inconsistent; something he says has a serious effect on the growth of the industry. “I don’t know what really happens behind the scenes but our industry still lacks a lot. One thing I know is that these awards lift artists; they push them to work even harder, organisers should hence put in more effort to make this work and see to it that we have as many awards as possible,” he said.

He called up all award events’ organisers to step up their game, let the whole process be run fair and square by letting people decide. “But most importantly, award ceremonies need to be consistent, if they are annual let them be annual and the prize moneys must be as clear,” he said. Salebona Khumalo known as ‘Jumbo,’ the brains behind Jumbo Awards (A full of splendour annual dinner hosted to hallmark the iconic social and corporate personalities of our time) said that, at times, the challenges that come up during organising awards are associated with the nominees themselves.

He said they don’t attach enough value to these awards just because they don’t come with a lot of money when this is for charity purposes. Khumalo faults this kind of behaviour, saying that any award is very important towards building the profile of any artist. The other issue he points out is where entertainers turn awards into a competition, which eventually results in conflict that affects the entire industry.

Problem

“Funds are still a problem and this is why it is hard to be consistent when it comes to organising these awards. I think it is important to have more sponsors on board. I believe with enough funding we can have many award shows organised in the country,” he said. Khumalo also pleaded with the Ministry of Sports and Culture to be supportive of modern local entertainers seeing that it was also part of modern-day culture.

He said that as Jumbo Awards, they make it their priority to alert those people who are nominated, to find out if they are interested in taking part then with their approval they require them to produce branding/pictures to use for the voting process. Khumalo said he makes it clear that the Jumbo awards are a way of showing appreciation to the work local entertainers put and also means of making money to give back to the less privileged in which he says he has been open about since day one. “We should all support each other because when our industry gains momentum we all benefit in one way or another, ” he said.

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