Magic Promotion’s music dream

Locally owned entertainment company Magic Promotions has announced plans of to establish a record label as it continue in its quest to promote artists in the country. The company intends to add to its stable which already has four artists under its fold and give an opportunity to budding artists who have the potential but lack the platform. Our Staff Reporter, BRIAN ITAI, caught up with co-directors of the entertainment company Chris Loka (CL) and Brazio Matius (BM). Excerpts:

Dreaming big: Loka (L) and Matius

Q

: Take me through Magic Promotion’s journey in music?

C

L: Magic Promotions is a fully Malawian-owned music company established in 2015 with a special focus on providing a sustainable and advantageous platform for both budding and established artists to further their dreams.

Within that package, we also offer branding, marketing strategic initiatives which facilitate an easy engagement between the consumers and the services that we offer. We have a strong management team that believes in empowering and promoting the interests of our clients with transformative approach as we strive to become a key player in the entertainment industry.

Q

: Since you came on the scene, what have been some of your most notable contributions to the industry?

B

M. We have helped in organising events such as album launch shows for upcoming musicians. This is one area that budding artists find difficult since they are new, with no fan base and mostly they do not have the financial muscle to promote and put together a show.

We have also awarded outstanding musicians as a way of motivating them for their efforts like was the case in 2017.

Q

: How many artists are you managing at the moment and how are they faring in the industry?

C

L: So far, we have three artists under our fold plus one gospel choir from Rumphi. The feedback we have so far received has been encouraging. It is our hope that they will continue to improve in line with the expectations and demands of this company.

Q

: What is the criteria you use in selecting the artists you work with?

B

M: In most cases, the artists themselves approach us but we do not just welcome everybody because they have knocked at our door. We ask them to give us their material for assessment after which we make a determination if their work is good enough or not. We have sent so many people back and in such cases, the least we do is give them advice on how they can improve their art.

The problem with most upcoming artists is that they want to sound exactly the same as people they idolise. It is not wrong to have an idol in the business but when you start posturing yourself exactly as that particular person, that is when the whole problem begins. That is one problem affecting our young artists.

Q

: You have announced plans to establish a record label. How do you intend to go about that?

C

L: That is one of our expansion initiatives. We want to get more involved in the daily operations of the artists that we will be working with by helping them in composing and recording songs and promoting their end product.  We will employ professionals in different areas of interest such as marketers, we want to have our own studio and producers who will be working with these artists. The idea is to be there from the first stage of production all the way till it is ready for consumption.

Q

: You have talked about a lot of things. Quite a big ambition. Do you think you have the capacity to set in place all this?

B

M: We may be short of finances but in terms of ideas and motivation we are okay. Everything starts with an idea. In the meantime, we are looking for partners that we can work with to make this dream a reality. n