Thebe Mabanga
IN YOUR EAR
Gauteng youth station Yfm 99.2 has broken new ground by setting up an exchange programme with a foreign broadcaster. The two-year-old music station has linked up with Rythm 93.7 fm of Nigeria to exchange expertise in areas of management, news and information presentation, and music content. Rythm is a two-year-old Lagos- based station. It has a 20% market share and 70% of its listeners are in the 15 to 39 age bracket. The swap was kick-started by Yfm executive director Dirk Hartford and DJ Fresh, who visited Lagos in mid- February (and witnessed Bafana Bafana getting thrashed by Nigeria). “There are lot of similarities in our backgrounds,” says Hartford, “and this relationship will be key to, especially, gaining access to music since no one distributes Nigerian music locally.” He continues, pointing out how they found links in elements of popular culture across the two countries.
After the African Nations Cup final,Yfm played host to Rythm DJ Eldee and Guy Murray-Bruce of Silverbird Communication, the owner of Rythm. “This is very helpful since it can help build unity between us and can help give us a window to each other’s culture, something which will go a long way towards clearing misconceptions and changing attitudes,” says Murray-Bruce.
This move closely follows Yfm’s decision to broadcast on DStv Channel 21 and on the station’s website (www.yfm.co.za) by April. Yfm also has relations with stations in Lesotho Namibia and Zambia. And we do not hear it claiming, like one directionless monolith, to be Africa’s entertainment authority.
Still on Y, its recent promo around Bongo Maffin’s departure to France was impressive. It kicked off with a party in Rosebank and was the rage all through the weekend with CD-giveaways that required one to sit through four-hour shows without missing a song. The station has crossovers for updates. A national station would have a greater impact.
Last week, the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology hosted a music industry task team to receive submissions on developing the music industry (see report on page 5). According to the department, the radio component was invited through the National Association of Broadcasters. Sadly, it was conspicuous by its absence. The snub is a real shame, especially from the SABC, which, through its public services stations, is the custodian of music forms whose practitioners are the most marginalised and exploited.
The Highveld Stereo 94.7 Top 100 is back. The live concert is gone, but the new format is equally pleasing. Listeners choose, by phone or e-mail, their three favourite songs of all time and put themselves in line to win a shopping spree at Sandton City. The countdown is on March 26 and the winner will be drawn on Monday, March 27 at 7.15am on the Rude Awakening show with Jeremy Mansfield.
The phone voteline is 083 913-9473 or e- mail [email protected].