the advantages and disadvantages of new information technologies

It should be put into consideration that  though we love the new media technologies so much because they make our lives easy or they are fun to use these Information Communication Technologies(ICTs) bring forth both positive and negative impacts on the Zimbabwean media industry and artists.

Sandra Ndebele on www.facebook.com

Information technologies such as the internet have promoted interaction between artists and the public. artists use platforms such as Facebook and Tweeter to communicate and interact with the public.Artist promoters use these platforms to advertise upcoming events  hence information technologies are an advantage for local artists.Artists like Sandra Ndebele use Facebook to inform followers on upcoming events.

Kat Jackman states that, "...tech has created new commercial models and income streams. the rise of the digital age has meant that recorded music is packed differently, which has no doubt altered the consumer's views on the value of recorded music." From this statement the question is that is it possible for our local Zimbabwean artists to adopt these technologies whilst the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation has not digitized yet.


Some of our local artists earn a living from singing and perform but the introduction of new media technologies has compromised  this because the use of new media technologies has perpetuated piracy such that at the end of the day the artists do not benefit from their talents because people can download their staff online then sell them for as little as a dollar. this means people would then prefer to go and buy cheap copies on the streets than going into a store to purchase the same copy for about $20.Therefore this is a negative impact of technology on artists.

So as we continue to embrace these new technologies we should always remember that they do not only have positive impacts but they also carry disadvantages as well. 

how upcoming artists in Zim use the new media technologies to promote themselves

It should be noted that there are upcoming local artists who want to get out there and be known hence they subscribe to social media networks. These upcoming artists utilize social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Audio mack and Sound Cloud.

Scott J.R Facebook.com

 An upcoming artist from Bulawayo by the name Nkosinathi Dube also known as $cott JR uses these media networks to popularize himself .

He said he uses social media networks  because there is a wide audience since many people have face-book accounts as well as Whatsapp. He said he uses the platform to interact with other artists and share audio file and videos as a means to broaden their audiences. It should also be noted that social media platforms are relatively cheaper which is the reason why some subscribe to uploading their music on-line than going to record on studio.

One of the disadvantages of social networks is that the older generation does not appreciate the Internet as much as young people so at the end of the day his music reaches mostly the young people who are active on the Internet.

The other negative impact of social media on is that our Zimbabwean economy is poor and does not enable everyone to have to access full access to the Internet so at the end of the day not everyone can hear or access their music on-line.

The Zimbabwean Internet infrastructure is poor so most of the time people fail to access the Internet due to bad network so as a result some upcoming artists are not recognized by many in the country due to failure to access the internet.

I think as the Zimbabwean media should the initiate and try by all means to promote upcoming artists. Zimbabwean has got talent the problem is that we are failing to embrace it.