MUSIC groups and producers are crying foul, saying their music is being stolen, and they can't even make a living.
Many said this during the funeral service of the late gospel singer Dr Kenny Makweng on Sunday, 21 January.
The musicians said piracy is killing them, and they get buried with no dignity when they die.
Wacha Mukhuku member and spokesman Sipho "King K" Kekana told Daily Sun that they wish their music could be acknowledged and be played on national radio.
The 37-year-old from Mmametlhake, Mpumalanga, said they wish their music can get recognition from mainstream media.
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"The fact that no former legends like Nkosana Kodi, Oleseng Shuping and so on don't have any sort of awards tells you a story. Some of them have released albums that reached multiplatinum statuses," King K said.
He said recognition in this business is about survival, adding that once you've been recognised on the airwaves, then you'll get constant bookings.
"It's a serious challenge. With the death of CDs, which were pirated and sold for less without anything to the artists and record labels, we see the trend continuing even in the digital era. You release an album today, and the very next day, it's available for download on pirate websites," he added.
The musician said very few people stream on legit music platforms while many more are consuming artists' music for free on those pirate websites.
"I wish the genre can receive the respect it deserves so that it can grow. We got two Sama award nominations for our last two albums. But that was after we fought with RiSA. But even then, we know we stand no chance of winning the award," King K said.
He said he's looking forward to a day when he can submit music and not be asked what kind of gospel it is.
"And if I said it's gospel, they play it and say 'Oh, it's ZCC gospel' and you know that means you're going to struggle to get airtime. I'm looking forward to the day we are treated fairly like everybody else," he said.
Lesley Mofokeng, Risa spokesman, told Daily Sun they recognise this genre of music and they group them under indigenous faith music and they don't discriminate."We cater for Sione music in the Best African Indigenous Faith Music Album and invite and encourage them to enter this category as we will soon be making an announcement about entries for the milestone SAMA30," he said.
