Hello!
My dear readers and followers!
It is high time since i involved myself to foster the development and growth of Gospel Music Industry, especially in Tanzania!
I have been silent purposely, i was learning hard and i was analyzing how worthy is this reserve and i have come to realize that, this is number one industry in Tanzania and East Africa, there are variety and vast of Gospel singers in this region than anywhere in Africa.
This industry is high because it operate divinely and the overseer of it is God himself!
But yet i came amaze on one thing, yes Gospel Music Industry is high and is selling and is paying,but why Gospel artists are living very low and poor life? why is that so? there are millions of copies of Tapes,Audio and Video CDs in market now and people are buying but why artist are still primitive?
THEN, THERE MUST BE SOMETHING IN BETWEEN!
BUT ARE THESE ARTISTS AWARE OF IT? MAY THEY ARE AWARE! BUT WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO FIND SOLUTIONS? OOOH WHERE ARE THEY? DO THEY HAVE THAT PLAN?
MMH MAY BE LET US GO MORE FAR.....ARE THEY FRIENDS? CAN THEY FIND SOLUTION TOGETHER?
When i was asking myself those many questions, i came to realize that our artists have problems for real but number one problem is themselves, here are challenges of Gospel singers that i have discovered
GOSPEL ARTISTS;
They don’t know each other
Singers have little information about very few of their fellows who are either recording in one studio, worshiping the same church or ever met in one of occasions in Town, but in reality they don’t know each other at all, and because of that singers are living with glasses in their eyes i.e. everybody has assumed stories about others and not real, and this cause unnecessary quarrels, misunderstandings and hatred to the extent that they can’t pray for each other and perhaps one might lightly enjoy the failure of his/her fellow something that is not good at all in the body of Christ.
OBSERVATION; Kenyan and Uganda artists have shown high level of unity, and you can see that by
seeing very many songs that they have recorded as a mob and even within albums of individuals singers, there are a lot of featuring and even in their videos there is great co operations but such thing have not yet seen well in Tanzania gospel industry other than Bongo flavor artists only. And thus this is our time of revolution and that will be effective from a point of knowing each other first.
They are victims of Identity crisis
Many gospel singers have just emerged and found themselves in the industry, may they have never had even a dream of being celeb and others were already given up with life but now God is good! I have nothing against all these backgrounds but my concern is IF THESE ARTIST HAVE NOW IDENTIFY THEMSELVES! It is the challenge if someone has become the public figure/icon but s/he does not know what to say, what to do, where to go at the certain given time, in short how to carry himself or herself in his/her daily life in consideration that s/he is highly observed by everybody.
They are unaggressive
Majority of Gospel singers are very sluggish, very narrow minded and stunted thinkers, I don’t say this with bad intentions but I need to reveal the reality of the challenge so that ultimate solutions can be found now. There are a lot of opportunities that a person with popularity can tackle and someone with famous dignity can penetrate many walls but my friends only think of Recording an Audio Album, launching then Shooting videos, launching again and wait for invitations all around (from which they have labeled themselves with price tags like commodities or like their ministries is business) before thinking of recording another singles and life continue that way NO WAY PEOPLE HAVE TO LEARN TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX , TO BECOME AGGRESSIVE AND HAVE BIGGER VISIONS.
They are less informed
Majority has less information about what is going on in the globe especially information that rely on their industry and the most bad thing is that they don’t even eager to search for any. I have attended several seminars, summits and trainings but it is very rare to meet Gospel singers in those stuffs unless they are invited to minister or entertain, then I wonder how can we become international if we don’t find what can makes us so!
In this world we live, nothing more is needed than information, and thus I WISH GOSPEL SINGERS TO INVEST MORE ON KNOWING THE WORD AND THE WORLD.
They are isolated (self-excommunicated from community)
They were within the community before they become famous, but for now they seem not to be part of community any more, it is very hard even to have a word with them, they are not easily found in social and community events and occasions such as ward/political meetings, mourning ceremonies and church/street min parties. They have built a wall against their audiences by charging money in every invitation they receive even if they are invited to synthesize the fundraisings for needy or church constructions. And something that I wonder is this; they are not fan of radio or TVs at all unless they are informed to watch out for their works in air, and recently I have discovered that they are not even friendly to media(which would support the growth) like news papers, magazine and television and that give the room for journalist to formulate and just write bad side of them….NO MATTER WHAT A PERSON CAN BECOME, YET S/HE WILL REMAIN TO BE PART OF THE COMMUNITY, UNLESS S/HE FAIL TO UNDERSTAND THE FACT THAT, HOWEVER HIGH SOMEONE MIGHT GO,DOWN IS THE ONLY POINT WHERE SOMEONE CAN RELAY IN CASE OF ANYTHING(AND THAT IS THE COMMUNITY)
They are dwelling in status quo
Majority have reached a point of little success and decided to dwell there, having a dream to record and now s/he has already recorded then that is all, so whether the tape sells in the market or remain in the house they have nothing to worry because the dream is attained, others become very happy when they just hear their songs in two Christian radios which just broadcast within two or three regions and they forget that there are singers from south Africa, west Africa and far abroad who are highly loved here than him/her, and with this phenomena I have come to realize that Tanzania gospel singers have dominated regional or zone wise, for who are famous in Mwanza and lake zone are not known in Dar at all and those who dominate central zone are not known at all in higher southern zone and other zones likewise, but this is not just because there are Radio Station in those zones but singers have found themselves a resting point and unless they wake up and focus the whole of Tanzania and East Africa, they will remain as they are!
…..AND THIS SITUATION HAS TO BE CHANGED!
Majority have lost the focus and purpose
I do believe that everybody has a purpose in his/her life and that purpose is what drives everybody toward his/her destiny; even Gospel ministers including singers have such purposes even if others are not aware of them by themselves. We are ambassadors of his kingdom in this earth, we are all called to rule the world on behalf of Him by his word and above all to worship him alone; Nothing else we have other than LIVING IN HIM, WITH HIM, BECAUSE OF HIM AND FOR HIM. We are not serving God in order to be rich but the very unfortunate fact is this “When you became faithful in serving Him automatically you became blessed and so rich”
But now people have lost the focus, instead of siding with the giver, they are busy looking for gifts, no wonder people now are getting to Gospel music Industry with business orientations and not service anymore, and for that phenomena THE FALL IS VERY NEAR!.
They don’t know Music
Majority of gospel artist know just to compose songs(however not in standards) and run to studio even without perfecting their voices, and whenever they are invited to sing, the best they can do is to great people with singing swaggers and minister their songs with playbacks. People have remained there and they wish to be international singers, no way! The hard thing is that they don’t know music and yet they don’t know that they don’t and that makes the situation hard for they remain with efforts of composing new songs everyday even if they don’t advance at all, others feels proud to declare that every of their hitting song is their writing/composition even if is not true and such music has no quality nor standards, that is why many artists have just one or two famous songs only and the rest are just dull.
Note; Music is an art and a person needs to learn and exercise until when s/he become perfect, Music involve a lot of things together from idea development, composition, tone analysis and music arrangements, music note development, instrument playing and post production works. For an artist to cater standards s/he needs at least to have idea or knowledge about all these basics, if s/he advances more it will be great if s/he can play at least one instrument but every artist is expected to have knowledge over music notes, for that is the language of music
They have nothing to do other than singing
Majority have nothing else to do than singing, it is hard to believe that other have quitted schools and collages believing that they have found new life style and that is gospel singing, few of them are radio or television presenters and the group of other few who seem to be ahead of others (celeb) at least own recording studios, restaurants, hotels, garments shops and other small projects, but this is not enough for these big and major stake holders of this huge industry in the country.
I wish people to pawn their efforts in finding education and other skills, to work and improve their carriers and above all involve in entrepreneurship activities so that they become independent even if they are not invited anywhere to sing nor sell any tape.
They are not born again anymore!
Because of freedom of worship, many have lost settlements and thus they are not found anywhere, I mean they have no home and spiritual parents/guardians. They are found here today and tomorrow they are there and are not found in any church register. Walking without a light majority have lost their ways and darken their stars and abuse their testimonies; fornication is the sin behind many friendships, bands and choirs, lying and gospel gambling emanated from materials ownership competitions. Very few are enjoying their marriages but majority are unsettled singles, divorced, single parents and other are still struggling with sex and issues of money…and from that reality I can’t say these singers are born again, no way! Although there are very many people who have been driven back by the devil, still there are many more saints of God who are praying day and night to stand still and I pray to God that they pursue to their destiny safely.
I do understand that ministry is the battle, but we can’t just stay aside watching devil playing with ministers because their fall is shame of the whole church! THE CHURCH AND THE INDUSTRY HAS TO RETURN TO ITS STANDARDS FOR THE GLORY OF THE LORD.
Then with these challenges there is no way the industry can perform best unless we wish to continue with league of just few being ahead and above(whom we call stars though they gain very less anyway even if is more than others) and the rest to remain behind until the right of God saying YES!.....NO THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!
Then I took some time to think what can I do to bring back the industry in line, I thought of several ideas but after tried to seek concerns and advises from other stake holders, majority of them seem to give up and see nothing positive can be done anymore, but personally I am confidently believe that I will make it a way forward, even if it will take time but I am sure one day the industry will be at stake!
Because there are a lot of challenges and it is hard to solve them all at once, then I came out with this starter package idea, GOSPEL SINGERS’ BREAKFAST! With small morning feast I am sure it will be starting point of solving all challenges of Gospel Industry in Tanzania and perhaps in East Africa in near future!
WHY GOSPEL SINGERS’ BREAKFAST?
In resolving of many matters we have to meet and have enough time to hear and to ponder different vital issues that concerning our industry and not to debate. And I have come to realize that some artists just meet in churches, crusades, concerts and other occasions and thus their concentration always remain in those stuffs and with that case, they are is no way we can closely talk and discuss issues that concerns us. And therefore I thought of this breakfast feast as more concentrate IN meeting because it will be held in the morning when people are still active and they just come for that purpose.
WHAT WILL BE DONE ON THAT DAY?
In this feast will be having good time;
i. To hear, to learn, to be inspired, and to be motivated by very experienced motivational speakers and ministers specializing in their given area of expertise. This package will be very useful for everybody who will mean to concentrate with what will presented and I am sure they won’t remain as they are after the feast.
ii. To know each other better and exchange contacts and experiences, above all to inter link our networks.
iii. To sort out biographies and gather all important information about individual artist and upload those in our online data base for the sake all these Gospel artists to be known all around the globe. (There will a special form to be filled by every individual singer and at least two pictures per person that will be seen online)
iv. To repent, to pray together and commit to start a fresh with a new zeal, to propose the other date of meeting and anything else to do in order to impact our community.
v. To enjoy the well planned and prepared balanced breakfast, to conclude and depart.
There are might be AOBs but our main focuses for now are these mentioned ones. I do believe that people will start recording audio and video together for now the cooperation will be live.
OBJECTIVES OF GSB
As how I have narrated the whole idea above, then the following are objectives and expectations from this feast;
1. To pose and expose the Gospel singers toward the huge reserve of potential of gospel music industry in Tanzania, East Africa and the world, by sharing ample opportunities and challenging challenges that are residing along with tackling those opportunities.
And we are hardly expecting this to be done effectively and those who will be aggressive enough will reap the product of their efforts.
2. To bring INSPIRATION about SELF REALIZATION and PERSONAL CAPACITY BUILDING which will make gospel singers IDENTIFY THEMSELVES, reveal the great potential in themselves and others and thus help them to familiarize with others add new friends or enrich their links and networks.
We are expecting the new beginning of mutual cooperation among gospel singers themselves and gospel singers and their audiences through site, blog and mass media.
3. To show them the way back on the track of STANDARDS and SERVANT HOOD. We wish to see AGGRESSIVE Gospel singers, information and knowledge seekers, cooperative and communal oriented ones, associating themselves with their communities and participating in daily life activities in their homes.
We are expecting to see gospel singers with new zeal and bigger vision than before, community friends and becoming more experts in music sector and other areas of expertise.
4. To reveal new GOSPEL SINGERS who are Humble and have Humility, Servants and not superstars, dwell under spiritual guidance, God fearer with the heart of worship and thank giving, singers who are enjoying serving him even under challenges and temptations. People who have devoted themselves to represent best the Kingdom of God in this Earth.
We are expecting Gospel singers to come out with different perspective and who are committed to serve God whole heartedly and not in diverged mixed ways.
5. To challenge, to motivate, to inspire the visions and dreams of Gospel Singers, not to dwell in their status quo but to have bigger Dreams than their interest, to widen their focus and amplify their thinking.
We expect to see Future oriented Gospel Singers with the mindset of the Kingdom. People with strategies of growth, network of marketing and desires to reach the whole world
6. To nature Gospel singers to become world class, civilized, global and digital oriented, people who will own sites and blogs and their information and works will be available online throughout the world, people who will be preaching and selling electronically.
7. To have God fearer, ministers of God, true image of God in earth, preachers of the Gospel and much respected icons.
MATERIALS/SKILLS PRESENTATIONS
This is very important part of all; in fact this is the nucleus of this feast. Our expectation is to feed our brains, challenge our minds, foster our faith, inspire our dreams, enrich our hearts by feeding them with gospel (good news of the Kingdom of God) and feed our stomachs with balanced breakfast.
We are expecting to have five main speakers in different issues; I mean different angles of life. Every single speaker is well educated with admirable experience in the given area of expertise.
We wish to deal with the following areas
SPIRITUAL BASE
There is something wrong in this area, singers’ spirituality is at stake, servant hood, spirit of praise and heart of worship has perished. Majority has lost sense of purpose and direction and now they are just operating with humanly experience and their focus is just business, that is why whenever they receive invitations of ministry, they always ask “HOW MUCH DO YOU HAVE?”
Now that is the disease and it must be cured and surely during this feast we are real hoping to be inspired on “SPIRIT OF PRAISE AND WORSHIP” whereby we will be summoned on;
· “HOW TO PRAISE AND WORSHIP THE LORD excellently” especially with SINGING,
· HOW TO GROW SPIRITUALLY,
· HOW TO INVEST IN PRAYERS AND WORD OF GOD,
· HOW TO NOURISH AND ENJOY THE MINISTRY
By a very special minister, speaker, Singer, Musician and minister of God that has real devoted to save Him and specialize in Praise and Worship for a very long time.
PSYCHOLOGICAL BASE
Because many people are suffering from identity crisis, many are leaving by people’s opinions and not their own life facts, majority have big names but they have totally failed to deliver what can be sampled to be equal to their levels, and that might depart all fans and followers of someone’s ministry; in fact that is not something to pray about but someone need just to transformed by the word of knowledge.
We will be having a very good presentation from a very person specialize in human Psychology and related matters and the presentation will be entitled “A MIND OF A FAMOUS/POPULAR PERSON”; and we are real expecting people to come out with very different perceptive and habit of honor.
STRATEGIC/PLANNING BASE
It is one thing to have faith, to have dream and to have bigger vision but is another thing to walk in that dream or vision step by step! Failing to PLAN is planning to FAIL, so someone needs to plan and strategize the plans and for that matter We will have another important presentation“WISH TO TOUCH THE SKY but STRATEGICALLY” from a very important person who has real specialized in that field, we wish to be challenged on how we plan and strategize our issues, what are we expecting in the industry? Where do we wish to reach? What do we desire to achieve in music? .....THEN WE WILL LERAN HOW DO WE REACH OUR DESTINIES!
SOCIAL BASE
We will be having another presentation that will base on social affairs, rights and social responsibilities that we have in our societies, advantages of living with people and cooperating with them very keen in daily activities.
This presentation with a base title “MY COMMUNITY MY LIFE” from a very man who has enough working experience in social affairs as Human Resource expert and long time in the industry of Gospel Music, I believe this presentation will challenge our THINKING, DECISION AND ACTIONS within our communities and finally help us to “TO THINK DIFFERENTLY AND TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE”
NOTE:
These will our main presentations and will have enough time for each topic, at least 20-30min; it might happen to have other short extra presentations from other important people, mentors and important stake holders, but all that will depend on availability of time, above all we will have good time of mingling and socializing with each other and share more among individuals.
ECONOMICAL BASE
Gospel Music industry is the ministerial business platform for whoever means to serve, but it might not be very simple as someone might see or assume from far, so what should be done to improve and stabilize their economical bases; how can they do other businesses and investments along with singing ministry? How to grow and remain stable economically after gaining even that little cash?
Now we will have very good presentation tips of Management, Entrepreneurship, Business, Investment and Financial management and other economy related matters with a based title “A WORKABLE IDEA”; from a very important person who is the private Business and Management Consultant, practicing entrepreneur, visionary, author and very motivational speaker that has specialize his expertise on that area and involved himself in gospel Industry for quite a time now.
I KNOW ALONE I CAN NOT MAKE IT,BUT WE THE SUPPORT OF GOSPEL SINGERS, PRODUCERS AND ALL OTHER STAKE HOLDERS, WE WILL MAKE IT!!!
I HUMBLY INVITE ALL GOSPEL MUSIC INDUSTRY STAKE HOLDERS TO BE PART OF THIS FEAST, LET EVERYBODY PLAY HIS/HER ROLE OF INFORMING TEN PEOPLE AND INVITING AS MANY AS YOU CAN!!!
PASTORS AND LEADERS OF BANDS, CHOIRS AND MINISTRIES, PLEASE ALLOW YOUR MEMBERS TO ATTEND THIS VERY IMPORTANT OCCASION!
I here by request ALL MASS MEDIA including CHRISTIAN BLOGGERS to help in spreading the News to more many people!!
Fredy E.Chavala
The Visionary and The Project Manager!!
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