Public broadcaster to take care of music legends

Public broadcaster the SABC has said it will set up a budget to honour South African musical legends for their contribution to the industry.

SABC Chief Operating Officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng has said the broadcaster wants to restore the dignity of musicians.

“[We want] to move away from a situation where creatives in the music industry die paupers”‚ Motsoeneng said.

The broadcaster said it would make the once-off recognition payment in July.

This follows on the heels of the announcement last week by the SABC that local music would constitute 90% of that played on its 18 radio stations.

Local artists were also treated to more good news this week‚ as the public broadcaster said it would be increasing its royalty percentage from 3.2% to 4%.

 “This is good news because artists will get more money in their pockets and people won’t die poor‚” Motsoeneng said.

This was met with immense glee from the music fraternity across South Africa.

Dodo Monamodi‚ chairperson of Independent Music Performers Association said: “We are timeously being amazed by the goodness we keep on receiving from our broadcaster. It’s amazing. It’s more than we expected‚” Monamodi said.

Arthur Mafokate‚ winner of the Metro FM Life Time Achievement Award and chairperson of the South African Arts and Development Association‚ said it was a victory not just for producing artists‚ but also for those that were still trying to get into the industry.