Play 70% local content!

Renowned local music promoter Gilbert Oagile known better as ‘PP wa Pimp’ in music circles says they have embarked on a campaign to push for 70% local content to be given airplay.

Oagile has partnered with Tebogo Tshesebe (Dj Fondo Fire) and Monica Segojwe in a campaign that is aimed at influencing policy change in terms of giving local content  more room in local airwaves.

In an interview, Oagile said local content has been sidelined in favor of foreign music content therefore local artists’ end up getting peanuts from the royalties collected by COSBOTS. “It is so disheartening to see majority share of money collected by the Copyright Society of Botswana (COSBOTS) ending on hands of international content producers. There is also huge potential in local music industry that can cover 70% we advocate for,” PP highlighted.

As part of campaign, he says their motive is to bring together relevant stakeholders under one roof being COSBOTS and Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) to dialogue. He argues that the existing 60\40, under which foreign content is receiving 60% of air space and local songs getting 40% airplay is outdated and is not promoting but kills the local music sector. “We are not anyhow launching an attack on BOCRA as regulators but we advocate for fairness in supporting local music. The 60\40 quota was good in the past on Radio Botswana because by then there was no enough content to feed it. Now content has rapidly grown locally, ’he added.

Further, he revealed that they are planning to host a forum on 15^th April and will bring other regulators across SADC region, cabinet and MPs to deliberate further on the campaign plans.

Oagile buttressed that radio stations in Botswana’s neighboring countries are giving 90% airplay to the local artists saying it is possible locally, applauding Duma FM and Yarona FM for heeding to their call insisting that the two radio stations are currently playing too much of local content.

The campaign will be officially launch on 19^th February and the team said they are intending to host local content awards for print and broadcast media slated for October 10^th this year so as to award individual journalists and media houses that offers wide coverage on local content.

For his part, Dj Fondo said the local content grown in leaps and bounds therefore being optimistic that 70% local content is possible to be achieved as some doubt it can happen.