BY THOMAS CHIDAMBA AS the music industry continues to face uncertainty caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, rising gospel star Cleopas Mupita has urged fellow musicians to be creative in marketing their works and embrace wired technology. Live music concerts that attract physical gatherings and jamborees have remained banned since March last year as part of a raft of measures to curb the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus. In an interview with NewsDay Life & Style yesterday, Mupita said after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, he was forced to embrace technology and migrate to digital platforms to market his music. “As we are currently on national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and no one knows when live music shows that attract huge gatherings will be resumed in different parts of the world, it then means we have to be creative in how we market our music so that it reaches our fans wherever they are,” he said. “We are now living in a digital era, if we can utilise these different digital platforms to market our music, we can survive in this coronavirus era. We have to make use of these digital platforms as they reach people in different parts of the world within a short space of time.” Mupita paid tribute to Mambo Dhuterere — born Darlington Mutseta — whom he said had helped him master the art of gospel music. Mambo Dhuterere and Trymore Bande featured on his debut album Mhemberero that was released last year and was recorded by popular music producer Gibson Makumbe of Voice of Thunder Music Studio. “Mambo Dhuterere and his wife are my friends and have been very supportive to my musical journey. They have played a huge role in my music and I salute them for the guidance,” he said. “As musicians, we have to be united and work together closely as it helps us in producing quality music.” Mupita said he was working on launching his second album online soon. Follow Thomas on Twitter @chidambathomas