RENOWNED music promoter and Mokoomba band manager Marcus Gora  yesterday called on artistes to invest in diverse management as well as marketing teams to ensure sustainable growth of their brands at a time lots of talent is emerging and fighting for recognition on the music scene. BY KENNEDY NYAVAYA Gora made the remarks speaking at the Managing your Music as a Business workshop that was organised by Gateway Stream (a subsidiary of the Rainbow Tourism Group) that recently launched a mobile and web music application (Gateway Stream Music Application) that presents an interactive platform for musicians and users. He said through working with the internationally-acclaimed Mokoomba band, for over a decade he had learnt that building a strong brand required different professional hands. “One of the things that I want to emphasise is that, it is important for an artiste that whichever direction you want to take to create a good team around you, you need to gather appropriate people to make it,” he said. “Inasmuch as doing it yourself is attractive and it can work, but in our environment it is a bit difficult to do everything for yourself, you need people to partner with so that you can multiply your power.” Gora said lack of understanding and requisite knowledge on how to effectively negotiate and earn fully from one’s artistic worth had seen artistes sell their souls for peanuts. “Some of the mistakes that we make, we are not an empowered negotiator…someone can come and present a deal, but if there are issues that may tie you up for 10 years or a lifetime they would have been done and well documented and we do not want to keep on making those mistakes,” he said. Gora said the local music scene needed more platforms like the Gateway Stream Music Application to professionally publish and for musicians to earn from their talents. “As an industry we ought to be thankful that there are things like Gateway Stream that are coming up because it broadens the opportunities and platforms that are there for artistes. We have a problem in Zimbabwe with gatekeepers choosing who can be heard and when, which affects our work,” he said. In a recent interview, Rainbow Tourism Group’s corporate communications and innovations manager Pride Khumbula said through the Gateway Stream Music Application musicians were able to upload their music, set prices, manage inventories and receive revenue for all purchases through a revolutionary wallet function. “The Gateway Stream Music App will give artistes access to consumers and ensure that they can earn revenue from their trade, reducing the risk of losing earnings through piracy,” she said. Follow Kennedy on Twitter @ken_nyavaya