Opinion: Jacaranda  vs Ba Harare…a case of artistes abusing promoters

By John Mbizvo 

The Jacaranda tree is known to represent  wisdom, rebirth, wealth and good luck. As such when most artistes see the Jacaranda Music brand they think of wealth and all good things.

Just musician Baba Harare and a little known artiste who goes by the name Celsius launched a hatchet job operation targeting Jordan Links  Mangwiro and Jacaranda Music. The attacks didn’t get any publicity until they mentioned Charles ‘Torro’.  Guvamatanga as a deliberate bait.

At the mention of Torro,  most decided to take their chances seeing dollar signs and a get rich quick scheme where they could extort money from him. The young man even roped in Independent legislator Themba Mliswa to try and throw shade on Jacaranda.

Torro did not receive this level of publicity during the COVID 19 pandemic when he was taking care  of artists pumping money and catering for artistes that were not even from his stable. Torro offered food stuffs, groceries and paid rent for some artistes and the goods deeds were never mentioned.

It is baffling that artistes in their hatchet job claim that they are owed monies from royalties and they claim that Jacaranda music stole from them. They hoist Charles Guvamatanga on the gallows of public execution so that people hate him and turn on him. Some have gone further to tag British authorities in their hatchet jobs a clear sign of vendetta and organized hatchet jobs.

It is unfortunate that artists enter into contracts motivated by short sight and an unparalleled level of greed. Artists tend to over inflate the value of their song and brand and cry foul when the market shows them their true worth.

As an observer I have noticed that most artists are quick to ask for advance payments from promoters and managers. They want money for rehearsals, studio time , production , post production work, video shoots , outfits etc and where do they think this money will come from and who will reimburse the source ? 

Music is a business , all art is a business and those who invest in it expect a return on investment. 

Who should be paid first when the little funds trickle in ? Should it be the artist or the one who provided the funds ? What happens if the song or product doesn’t rake in enough to cover the funds expended on the artist ? 

Baba Harare and Celsius are busy crying wolf but how much did their music bring in ? Do they think millions were made from the few songs under Jacaranda ? If they made millions then why aren’t they making the same millions under different brands and management ? 

Did these artists sign contracts ? Did they understand the terms of the contracts they were getting themselves into ? 

It is interesting that the artists took to social media to vent but they did not take to social media when they were getting money from the very same persons they are attacking now. 

Charles Torro Guvamatanga has done a lot for a lot of artists. It might not be documented or publicized because most artists have their egos and pride to protect, they are too proud to come out and say Torro helped me when I didn’t have bus fare to go and record or Torro helped me when I couldn’t pay my rent. 

It is unfortunate that artists don’t understand the business side of music and they don’t want to engage professionals and pay professionals for service. In reality most artists and their music are not making enough money to afford decent legal advice or management. 

Bottom line is music doesn’t pay much in Zimbabwe and artists have to get shows , endorsement deals and seek other avenues of monetizing their art. No one wants to face the hard truth so we all hide behind blaming it on the promoter. 

The hatchet job against Jacaranda Music , Jordan Mangwiro and Charles Torro Guvamatanga should stop as it is unfair , biased and definitely not necessary.

John Mbizvo 

Agenda for Development and Empowerment (ADE)