Three days of business of music workshops, performances and awards begin in Joburg
By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor
We all met on the grounds of a place which in years gone by was a place and pain and suffering, but today stands as a place of inclusivity and collaborations across race, colour creed and religion. This is Constitution Hill, where this former prison where freedom fighters were once incarcerated, such as former President Nelson, Mandela, Winnie Madkizela Mandela, Gandhi and others, to name just a few. But in democratic South Africa this place is where the highest Court in South Africa is, where our freedom and dignities are protected, and it is a place where big minds in the business of music globally, will be meeting to calibrate a new path for the music industry, decimated by the impact of the coronavirus. Some of those delegates had just landed from Europe, that morning to meet with like minds from Afric and elsewhere to build a a new model of the music business.
And here is what is going to happen: Johannesburg starting today, November 25, 2021, and ending on Saturday, will see leading global music business experts, musicians and those behind music success exchange information, ideas, success stories and stories of heartaches and headaches at the first ever Conference for Collaborations, Exchange and Showcases (ACCES), conference to ever take place in South Africa.
At a media conference held on Wednesday, November 24, 2021, at Constitution Hill, some of the delegates, including those from Reeperbahn Festival, Europe’s biggest music festival of its kind, which incorporates a music business component during the annual festival in its Hamburg, Germany, home, pan African music development organisation Music In Africa Foundation, Goethe Institut, Siemens Stiffung, Bassline and Joburg Tourism, those behind the gig were determined that the event was going ahead irrespective of the current difficulties associated with Covid-19.
“We are determined that this important event for the music business in Africa, that will see master classes, networking opportunities and exchange of crucial information during this difficult period with the pandemic around, goes ahead.
“This pan African music business event takes place in a different country each year, and so far it has taken place in Senegal, Kenya and Ghana. Last year, it did not take place for the reasons that were obvious (the pandemic). And for the first time this year, Acces is taking place in Johannesburg for the first time. Tomorrow the music business that will include exhibitions, talks, master classes and keynote speeches begin. There will also be an award ceremony, whereby each year we pick on a musician for honour and this year we are honouring Thandiswa Mazwa and Vusi Mahlasela,” said Eddie Hatitye, Music in Africa Foundation director.
Hatitye also added that there will be music performances by emerging artists who are hugely talented, but not necessarily popular and this is not due to lack of talents, but that they are waiting to be discovered and be put on mainstream stages.
“There are global music scouts that have been invited and are here to discover that talent and hopefully give them an opportunity on global stages so that in a few years time they will grow to become big names in music. We chose such musicians for a performance showcase deliberately,” added Hatitye.
Carolin Christgau, Head of Culture at Goethe Institut and Jans Cording from Siemens Stiffung, organizations that were important in the funding of Music In Africa and its programmes on the African continent from its every beginning in 2011 to this very moment, pledged their continued support for the foundation’s extensive music development related programmes on the continent going forward.
Brad Holmes, whose production company Bassline has produced a number of shows, most of them for streaming platforms during hard lockdown in 2020 and 2021, contextualized the situation the live music sector currently finds itself in, in in, South Africa today.
“The situation has been very hard for the music industry since Covid-19, but Bassline with support from the French Institut has managed to put together performances on digital platforms and that supportive has been crucial for musicians during this time. What Music in Africa is doing for the development of music on the African continent, especially the training workshops, will only be appreciated one day in the future. This is very important,’ said Brad Holmes the Creative Director of Bassline Productions.
Evelyn Sieber the project lead of Reeperbhan whose activities in Europe are aligned to what Music in Africa’s Acces project does on the African continent, explained that it was important that the festival she leads had to send a delegation to this meeting.
“It was important that we send a delegation here, because what our festival does annually, is exactly what Music in Africa does on the continent, especially the music trade component of it. We receive support from the Germany Foreign Office and we would normall would have loved to have come with musicians to come and exchange ideas with fellow musicians here, but because of the situation(Covid-19), we were unable to do so this time around. However many people are going to join us digitally as the proceedings will be captured live on Music-in-Africa platforms, allowing a wide participation even from those that were unable to join us today,” Sieber explained.
In an interview with CITYTLIFE/ARTS, Sieber further explained that Europe in general and Germany in particular, is experiencing pretty much the same thing as South Africa and the continent are experiencing when it comes to hosting live events in the context of the threat and disruptions from Covid-19.
“However with 75 % of people having been vaccinated in Germany, people are now more comfortable to go out and attend festivals as compared to before. However, I would say If 100 people were to go out and attend a music event before Covid-19, now it would be 50% of those people. The situation currently is more difficult than in summer. We are in the middle of Winter right now and in fact we are expecting even snow next week in Hamburg and the situation of Covid-19 is not good under those conditions,” explained Sieber. She however expressed the view that with more people getting vaccinated and Covid-19 tests almost compulsory at events in Germany, more and more people would feel more safe and more confident to attend live events by time.
ACCES is the leading pan-African music business event organised by the Music In Africa Foundation in a different African city every year. This year’s edition takes place at Constitution Hill and Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Johannesburg from 25 to 27 November.
Organised in partnership with Europe’s leading club festival, Reeperbahn Festival, ACCES will offer an exciting programme, including keynote speakers, panel discussions, live performances, exhibitions, workshops, awards and networking sessions.
The conference programme features a dynamic roster of global musicians and industry experts including global superstar Master KG whose Jerusalema song became a global hit during hard lockdown, giving hope to humanity during a time of existential uncertainty due to the pandemic, Busiswa, Slikour, Msaki, Gigi Lamayne, Priddy Ugly, who are among more than 50 speakers and workshop facilitators confirmed for the music trade show.
What is especially interesting about the music showcase artists is that these are in reality hugely talented artists, who ironically the country has not yet impressed. A good example is Yugen Blakrok, a South African born underground hip hop artist who is currently a music sensation in Europe, using her Paris base, and yet back home she is hardly known beyond the confines of hard core underground hip hop scene. However it would not be an exaggeration to suggest that she and her producer Kanif, using their Paris base are the hottest thing from South Africa in European underground hip hop scene. But then she is here to reconnect with her South Africa base that she left a few years ago.
.Acces takes place from November 25-27, 2021 at Constitution Hill and at Sci-Bono in Newtown.