The Sunday Mail
AFTER years of subdued publicity, Selmor Mtukudzi has burst out of the cocoon and has resorted to aggressive career promoting measures that have created a direct link with her fans.
The afro-jazz musician, who is daughter to music legend Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi, has to date released four albums.
Two of the albums (Ndinewe — (I’m with you) and Tendai and Selmor Live) are joint projects with her husband Tendai Manatsa while the other two (Shungu and Expressions) are her solo effort. Despite remaining consistent in her productions, lady luck is still to smile on her.
She literally has not struck gold and is yet to receive recognition for her effort.
And out of frustration and desire to further spur her career that has received little or no support from her iconic father (Tuku), Selmor has decided to sell her own music in the streets under a campaign dubbed “Taking Music to the People”
Selmor was born to Tuku and Melody Murape but the couple separated when she was three years old.
The artiste, who has had to fight the odds to set her music career rolling feels record companies that she has worked with before on third party contract basis have not done enough to market and distribute her work.
She argues the distributors’ languid approach is the reason her brand has experienced poor growth.
In her nascent career, the musician has been nominated for prestigious music wards ranging from the National Arts Merit Awards and most recently the Zimbabwe Music Awards, but hers has always been a ‘so close, yet so far’ scenario.
“Over the years I have worked with a number of record companies that include Metro, Tuku Music and Diamond Studios for marketing and distribution of my works and the results have not been pleasing. It is against this background that I have decided to personally push my projects,” said Selmor.
The decision by Selmor to “take her music to the people” in the streets has attracted diverse views from music critics. While others consider it to be a noble marketing strategy, some are of the view that the senior superstars’ daughter has hit hard times and is using every trick in the book to eke a living.
But the initiative is not peculiar to her as producers of local television series such as “Go-Chanaiwa- Go” and other musicians such as Pastor G and several apostolic groups have traversed the same route.
The afro-jazz musician sees no fault in her move and is upbeat about it. She reckons she has found a counter to piracy. And selling her own product has been easy for her since at one point in her tough upbringing she was a sales representative for a local clothing company that specialises in uniforms.
“It’s amazing that people do not have my music and this has fuelled piracy. I was pained to discover pirated copies of my work in the streets yet it was proving difficult to find it through official channels,” she explained.
“…the poor distribution networks and consequently piracy that resulted in us losing a lot of potential revenue drove us into this move. Apart from the financial gains, we are also getting to physically meet our fans and interact with them,” added Selmor.
According to the artiste, since they began their exercise last month on October 20, they have been selling an average of 200 CD’s a day. Demand, she said, was exceeding their production capacity.
With the pilot project showing signs of success, the artiste has hinted that they will be spreading it to various places around the city and later around the country.
“We are failing to meet demand and I must say so far we have done a splendid job. The initial plan is to first cover all targeted streets in the Central Business District before we proceed to the ghetto areas.
“After this we will then go to Chitungwiza as well as other town and cities around Zimbabwe starting with places that have been making enquiries,” revealed Selmor.
The musician who has been working closely with her husband Tendai Manatsa (son to Zexie Manatsa) and sister-cum-manager Sandra in the campaign said results of the effort were tangible and encouraged every other artiste to follow suit.
Meanwhile, Selmor says she had finished working on her forthcoming project.
“I have finished recording my next album and singles will be out soon. The full project will be released after this campaign since people will now know where to find us,’ she said.
Among her hit-songs are “Nguva Yangu” and “Ndinochengetwa naMwari” the song that features gospel musician Mathias Mhere.
