Zimbocast; The Future Of Radio?

Zimbabwean music has in the last few years grown from strength to strength, genres like dance-hall and hip hop have come of age and are giving everyone else a run for their money, new artists continue cropping up everyday and many celebrated the coming on board of a number of newly licensed commercial radio stations as it would have finally meant that they would also get a chance to be heard, but sadly that is not the case.

The mainstream media continuously celebrates and gives copious amounts of space and airplay to a few established names (some of whom are long past their 'sell by' dates) at the expense of the upcoming talent.

This has left most upcoming artists just as frustrated as they were before, if not more!
While some will continue knocking their heads against the wall in frustration, a few other individuals are coming up with new and innovative ways of giving tomorrow's stars and the future of our industry a chance to also be seen and heard.
One such individual is writer and music producer Martin Gosha also known as Chamakanda. He has of late been making inroads with his Zimbocast Vitual Radio Station (a podcast).
The 28 year old shed more light on what exactly Zimbocast is and shared with us his hopes and aspirations for this unique initiative were.


FOR THE BENEFIT OF THOSE NOT IN THE KNOW, CAN YOU BRIEFLY EXPLAIN WHAT THE ZIMBOCAST VIRTUAL RADIO STATION IS?
Zimbocast Virtual Radio Station is a Podcast Radio Station which runs mainly on Social media and the Internet using a Networking Marketing Strategy.

WHEN WAS THIS PROJECT CONCEPTUALIZED?
In 2013, i launched it running a live stream but since accessibility to Internet for the general listeners was not affordable i had to stop and re-strategies. I eventually started again in July 2016.

WHAT WAS THE MAIN IDEA BEHIND ZIMBOCAST?
This is one of the tangible strategies of the Zimbocast Society (ZISO) which is yet to be launched. The idea is to scout, nurture and to promote artists especially upcoming in an affordable and reliable way.




WHAT WOULD YOU SAY WERE SOME OF THE MAJOR REASONS THAT MADE YOU WANT TO EXPLORE THIS TERRITORY?
It was mainly the continued sabotage by the National and Commercial Radio Stations by not playing or giving the upcoming artists a chance that made me want to help my fellow artists everywhere.

...... AND YOUR MAIN AIM/GOAL FOR ZIMBOCAST IS?
I aim to get a bigger or total share of the Market so i can have an effective and efficient ground to market or promote any artwork.

HOW CAN MUSIC FANS ALL OVER ACCESS THE ZIMBOCAST VIRTUAL RADIO STATION AND ITS EPISODES/SHOWS?
So far you can access Zimbocast Virtual Radio Station via Stream or Download on Reverbnation.... News and Updates can be found on Facebook FanPage www.facebook.com/zimbocast  or via Whatsapp on +263773440118

HOW HAS THE RESPONSE BEEN LIKE FROM YOUR LISTENERS?
Everyone is liking the idea, especially the upcoming artists because its a one of its kind initiative and it helps bring their music into peoples' homes.

HOW MANY SHOWS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE ZIMBOCAST VIRTUAL RADIO STATION?
So far I am running a single show titled *In Da Mix With Chamakanda* which features a Music Mix and an interview during the show that i chose to call *One On One with Chamakanda*

CAN YOU TAKE US THROUGH WHAT A NORMAL DAY AT THE ZIMBOCAST VIRTUAL RADIO STATION IS LIKE?
A Day at Zimbocast is just like any other day in my backyard music studio. After making my jingles, the rest is just live mixing and deejayin, just like any normal station.

HOW MANY EPISODES HAVE YOU MADE THUS FAR?
i have made 16 episodes so far and they are released on a weekly basis.

WHAT STEPS HAVE YOU TAKEN TO MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE TO THE MUSIC FANS AND EVERYONE ELSE?
 To make it accessible to everyone i upload it to the Internet through reverbnation.com, make it available plus extensively hype it on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. Who can forget the Fans/Listeners, they have now become the bloodline of the Radio Station because they are also involved in making sure it spreads and thus our motto *WorthSharing* came into being.




WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS FOR ZIMBOCAST......WHERE TO FROM HERE ON?
My Future Plan is to evolve it from being just the best *Podcast* to being the best commercial radio station made by the artist for the artists. I believe that I have so far and will continue laying the groundwork for that.


WHO ELSE PLAYS A PART IN BRINGING ZIMBOCAST TO THE LISTENERS?
This is individual effort but i could not ignore input of the listeners and artists themselves in making every episode a reality and also sharing it with the rest of the world. It would never have been possible without them, thank you #TeamZimbocast!

By Tawanda Ngena (BTN)