A Lilongwe based gospel artist says social media plays a significant role in promoting new songs and up-and-coming artists in the country and has urged other musicians to embrace the platform.
The artist, Owen James popularly known as OJ, made the call amid the spark in popularity of his breakout hit Size Ya Yesu which has received an overwhelming response on social media sites and has garnered radio air plays on national radio stations including Power 101 and Galaxy FM.
Speaking in an interview, OJ said social media has become an important tool for artists as it has provided them with another platform to promote their music thus attracting new fans to their music.
“The conviction is that social media has disadvantaged musicians due to high levels of piracy, but it has provided us with the platform as musicians to promote our various projects thereby growing the fan base,” he said.
Turning to his hit Size ya Yesu which uses traditional beats and rhythm as its accompanying sound OJ, said the song was written to inspire Malawians find the solace in Jesus Christ as their personal saviour.
“Every person was created with a purpose so we need to realise the purpose of God in our lives but many people do not hence end up choosing shortcuts to advance their lives even if it’s immoral in God’s eyes thus music is a great doctrine to promote the message of God,” he articulated.
Concurring with OJ, a music critic and manager based in the north Uchindami Kayira, urged other musicians to embrace the use of social media to promote their music as it is one of the fast-growing marketing strategies to sell and promote products.
Kayira added that that social media provides quick feedback thus providing room for an artist to improve depending on the kind of feedback they have received.
