The novel coronavirus has put music business to a standstill as players in the industry cannot organise lucrative events due to the government’s restrictions on public gatherings.
The government banned gatherings of more than 100 people as one way of observing social distance, in a bid to prevent the further spread of the pandemic. Apparently the directive is on paper since politicians go against it.
With live music events yet to make a full return, some musicians are benefiting from political rallies. Their services are being hired as one way of attracting massive patronage to the campaign rallies.
Some of the musicians are Tay Grin, Dan Lu, Skeffa Chimoto, Soul Chembezi and Macelba. Grin and Lufani perform at almost every mega rally by the DPP-UDF alliance while the rest appear on the said stage occasionally.
While other musicians are claimed to perform at such events out of loyalty, it is understood that most are hired. In this respect, the political scene is benefiting some musicians in this period of covid-19 pandemic.
However, there are fears of the situation returning to bad for artists once the elections are over.
This follows the proliferation in the number of covid-19 cases across the country. However, if Covid-19 will be history by the polling date, 23rd June, there is a possibility of lives getting back to normal for more musicians.
Commenting on the musician’s involvement in politics, a local music enthusiast Ephraim Zulu said it is saddening that only a few musicians are benefiting.
“Music is business and musicians are justified to perform at political party rallies. It’s sad that only a few who have huge fan bases who are crowd pullers that are benefiting. For now, let’s appreciate that a few are benefiting than having nobody at all,” he said.
Some quarters believe musicians are not supposed to get involved into politics. They argue that the musicians risk losing their fans.
