Artists in Africa advise to adopt rebranding

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong- Daily Express

Mauritius

The Pan-African broadcaster Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Africa has advised artists in Africa to rebrand themselves in order to attract international promoters and also be recognize internationally.

Tim Horwood, the Channel Director for VIMN MTV Base gave this advice at the MultiChoice Africa Content Showcase extravaganza in Mauritius.

He stated that it is important for African artists to start doing collaboration with well known international artists so that they will be identify on international scene.

“MTV and some of our channel broadcast or play those artists who have track record with good songs and also have a lot of followers,” he stated.

He mentioned that South Africa and Nigeria are doing on the international market and there is need for other African artists to emulate them.

“Sarkodie, StoneBwoy and a few others from Ghana have done well by collaborating with well known artists from Nigeria, US and South Africa and this is making the Ghanaian artists known to the whole world. We need more of these artists from Africa,” said Horwood.

Horwood believed that it is important for African artists to produce a good songs and quality videos that are technically viewable to international audience.

“The artists themselves must also be appealing to their audience. They should ask themselves whether funs will be willing to listening or download their songs,” he asked.

Kgomotso Matsunyane, the BET Channel Manager announced that audition process will be made soon and the show will begin early in 2016. She said they was particularly excited to have launched BET Buzz on 1 September, a daily show which showcases all the glitz and glamour of the African and international entertainment scenes.

She said a continental version of the prestigious Black Girls Rock event is also on the cards and will form part of BET’s impressive tentpole music awards events, which include the BET Hip Hop Awards, the Soul Train Awards, the BET Awards and the international version of Black Girls Rock.

From humble beginnings in 2005 with just three channels on the DStv bouquet, Viacom International Media Network (VIMN) celebrated a decade on the continent with 10 channels, showcasing Africa to the world and bringing the best in international entertainment to Africa.

Channels like MTV Base and Comedy Central have been creating hundreds of hours of local content for a wide variety of platforms and together with the network’s other channels, showcase African popular culture to about 9.5 million audience viewers on the DStv platform.

The MTV African Music Awards are seen by more than half a billion people worldwide, and with more local productions in the pipeline, the future of African entertainment is bright.

Evert van der Veer, Senior Channel Director, Comedy Central announced the Comedy Central International Festival, an event which will see the best comedians from across the continent invited to Johannesburg, South Africa early in 2016 to join up with talent from the UK and USA for an epic feast of comedy.

There’s also another Comedy Central Roast in the works, which will take the brand outside of South Africa for the first time.

The MultiChoice Africa Content Showcase is a dynamic 5-day content extravaganza, which sees a host of DStv’s biggest channels, including Sony, SuperSport, Zee World, A+E, Disney, MTV Base, BET, Comedy Central, BBC and M-Net previewing their latest and greatest content, soon to be seen across the video entertainment services provider’s platforms.