Concerts SA announces Digital Mobility Fund recipients

The fund is courtesy of the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO), the SAMRO Foundation and the Levedo Foundation.

About 130 applications were received, of which 63 were selected including established and emerging musicians. Artists who applied for the ‘live-streamed concert without an audience’ and ‘live concert with an audience‘ categories will get R15 000 and R25 000 respectively.

Some of the selected recipients include Vusi Mahlasela, Mbuso Khoza, Pops Mohamed & Friends, BCUC, Blaq Pearl, Canvus Music, Congo Cowboys, Dalisu Ndlazi, Jerome Rex and Julia Robert. The full list of recipients is available here.

“Live music is the bread and butter for most musicians and composers in South Africa,” SAMRO CEO Mark Rosin said. “We are proud to be associated with Concerts SA and this innovative concept of a digital mobility fund which, in these difficult times, allows our musicians to be supported, and to earn revenue and continue inspiring audiences while sharing their creativity.”

Concerts SA project manager and IKS Cultural Consulting managing director Andre le Roux said: “We are grateful to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Levedo Foundation for helping Concerts SA support live music, and giving musicians hope by fostering new ways of doing business to generate income to sustain themselves and their families as the sector battles with recovering from the pandemic and its associated pandemonium. For us and for many artists there is no ‘new normal’, but there are new ways of being and rebuilding our sector together.”

Concerts SA is a live music project that has benefited more than 9 000 artists and 800 venues in South Africa and the SADC region since 2013. The fund seeks to support live music and offers opportunities for South African musicians to undertake music tours across the SADC region. Artists who have received support from Concerts SA include Freshlyground, Madala Kunene, Moonchild Sanelly, Samthing Soweto, DJ Lag, Bombshelter Beast, The Brother Moves On, Sibot, Taxi Violence, Sibusile Xaba, Msaki and the Make-Overs, among many others.