Bruce Ndlovu
The countrya��s music scene has been abuzz in the past few weeks with the viral views the video of Tytan and Ammara Browna��s smash hit Mukoko has managed to generate in the few weeks that it has been out.
The video for the song has managed to generate over 200 000 views in just two weeks, an unprecedented level of success for local videos.
Videos of some of the biggest songs released in the country over the last decade have sometimes taken years to attain similar numbers. Winky Da��s break out single Musarova Bigman for example stands at just under 250 000 views after five years on YouTube.
For artistes, downloads and views are testament to the popularity of their songs with the listening and viewing public. With viewership of the national broadcaster ZBC having been drastically reduced in the past decade, artistes have now turned to online platforms as a more accurate gauge of the popularity of their music.
However, how much an impact views on YouTube have on artistesa�� financial earnings and how they can generate revenue from the online traffic caused by their products remains unclear.
Most artistes, it seems, are also in the dark about how they can make money from the views on YouTube.
a�?Most of us have no idea about these things. We are in the dark and most just get excited to tell fans that they got such and such downloads. Local artistes are fascinated by the likes that they get but in reality we dona��t know how it has benefited them.a�?
a�?I for one would say there is a lack of education around what and how artistes can generate revenue from their online content,a�? said local artiste Khuxxman in an interview.
While there is no clear method for artistes to generate income from their content on YouTube, the financially savvy can earn a pretty penny from their content on the site.
According to Rolling Stone, one of the ways an artiste can generate revenue from YouTube is by attaching adverts to their videos.
Videos festooned with adverts make roughly $2 per 1,000 YouTube views. However, this formula is dependent on a lot of factors, such as what country the clip is viewed in.
The countrya��s artistes, because of failure to guide their online content have fallen victim to online pirates who use their videos on their channels and hence are able to generate revenue through their products while they dona��t get anything in return.
To counter this, artistes need to create their own channels which gives fans the option to subscribe to them which translates to more revenue.
Artistes can also generate revenue by attaching the link to a digital download of the song on the video thus making the job easier for fans who might want to purchase the songs on iTunes and other sites.
