Lack of local music content casts shadow on Metro FM

awards
Legends dont stop, they ask: whats next? is the tagline for the 15th annual Metro FM Music awards
(MMAs), which will be held in Durban at the iNkosi Albert Luthuli ICC on February 27. This year the
awards have faced criticism from veteran South African jazz musician Don Laka, who has asked
pertinent questions relating to the state of the local music industry.
He recently took to social media to accuse radio station Metro FM of destroying the South African
music industry with its playlist, which he says is made up predominantlyof music from the United
States.
Every time you hear an American song on our radio and watch SABC TV, know that money is leaving
South Africa, he wrote on Facebook. His grievances call the Independent Communications Authority
of South Africa (Icasa) Local Content Policy into question and back into the spotlight. So what is the
future of this policy? Will it ever be in favour of local artists?
This is not the first time this policy has come under scrutiny. ButMetro FMis not oblivious to the
criticism. Mail & Guardian recently spoke to Metro FM station manager Sibongile Mtyali about their
playlist and the upcoming award ceremony, which is one of the biggest on the local entertainment
front.
We are governed by the regulator [Icasa] like any other broadcaster in South Africa and there are
set targets of what we are supposed to deliver in terms of music, especially for local content, Mtyali
told theM&Gduring an interview at the SABC radio park office in Johannesburg.

Metro FM station manager Sibongile Mtyali. (Supplied)

The Icasa quota requires public radio stations to

play a minimum of 40% South African music. The
quotas for community radio are 40% and
commercial radio 25%.
Icasa is in the process of finalising the review of
local content regulations, which include music on
radio and programmes on television. The process
will be finalised by the end of March.
On a monthly basis, Metro FM delivers around
50% of local music, and thats a target weve set
for ourselves and thats how compliant we are with local quotas. Of course there will always be
complaints that we are not playing enough. But what is enough local music? asked Mtyali.

She added that the station, which targets audiences between the ages of24 and35, wants to increase
the local content on its platform and retain its status as an iconic brand. The stations current
listenership figure is just over six million and it hopes to soon reach seven million listeners.
According to Mtyali, the MMAs are not only aimed at acknowledging African musicians but also at
growing the Metro FM brand, which had become incoherent in recent years. She says its not just
about the award ceremony but also the experience.
We are trying to get as many people as possible to Durban to give them the Metro FM experience,
she said. This is theyear we are going big because we are celebrating 15 years of the MMAs, which
is a milestone for us and thats why weve had so many additions to the awards this year.
The MMA weekend programme includes an all-star comedy jam on February 25, ahip-hop party on
February 26, afashion show on February 26 and the award ceremony on February 27.
Afro-pop sensation Nathi Mankayi and duo DJs Sphectacula and Naves, who host a show on Metro
FM, are leading the pack with five nominations each. The stakes are high this year because, for the
first time, the winners of MMAs will receive a cash prize of R100000.

CassperNyovest. (Metro FM/Facebook)

Another new addition to the awards is the African category, which acknowledges musicians beyond
South Africas borders and artists who are listed on the radio stations playlist. Despite there being
more than 50 countries on the continent, all the nominees in theAfrican category arefromNigeria,
includingartistsWizkid and Burna Boy.
When we took the decision to introduce this category, we were not aware that at the end of the day
it would come to this, saidMtyali. This was an awakening of some sort to us and its a call to action
for the music and broadcasting industry, to say we cannot have a situation like this. However, weve
just introduced this category. We want to grow it and we believe that next year well present a
different picture, but the reality of our picture is that most of the MMAs submissions that we
received were from Nigeria, and this is reflected in the nominees.
Once the MMAs are done and dusted, Mtyali hopes the station will kick-start initiatives that go the
extra mile to boost and celebrate all African music not only during award season, but every day.
The Metro FM Music awards will broadcast live on February 27 at 8pm on SABC1. Check
outmma15.co.zafor the full weekend programme.
http://mg.co.za/article/2016-02-25-lack-of-local-content-casts-shadow-on-metro-fm-awars/