App to boost artistes music sales developed Written By Zimba Nice 18-11-2014 A group of four university students and graduates teamed up for a startup company Factor O and developed a music centric android based game- changing application called Olova. The app is meant to bring back sellable music for Zimbabweans. Based in Harare, the company formed by Negus Onai Shonhiwa, Archibald Moyo, Ernest Brad Nyumbu, Simbarashe Mutumha and the late Michael Mykol Mupeti developed the application to fill the gap of music distribution that has been created by the diminishing music distribution market. While Zimbabwean artistes rue picacy in the entertainment industry, this app will turnaround the complaints on it making sure they stop complaining about it once and for all. “The missing gap we want to fill is the absence of an effective music distribution system that financially benefits artists and makes music accessible and affordable, says Factor O. Luring over 25 artistes on the Olova database, the application is set to revolutionise and overturn the culture of artistes and their producers distributing their works either on WhatsApp or pirate websites such as sendspace or mediafire. Artistes using this app will be given the chance to realise the worth of their talent not just from concerts but from selling their music on Olova. The fourhorse men noticed the demand of local music and the rise of pirate websites that illegally distribute music leaving local musicians with nothing in their pockets. A music based app which went public at the recently held Shoko Festival left the event with over 100 android devices getting the Olova app. With a reasonable size of 5, 47 megabytes, the app developed for the Zimbabwean economy with the ease of a musician and subscriber in mind makes songs available for free and for sale. Using a virtual currency called ‘oLo’ US$0, 10 translates to 1oLo and the songs’ prices vary between $0,10 and $1. Unlike Apple’s iTunes or Nokia’s Ovi Store and Android’s Play Store, purchasing songs has been made Zimba-friendly as the subscriber can buy the music via mobile money platforms such as Ecocash and Telecash. Factor O will by year-end integrate global online payment solutions like MasterCard, Visa and other banking platforms for the convenience of Zimbabweans in the diaspora. According to the developers a subscriber purchases a “DIGICODE” from the Factor O billing- merchants which corresponds to the value (s) of songs they may want to purchase. The code can be entered on the recharge option which credits the users account thus enabling downloads until the user uses up all the credit in the users account. While the developers are concerned with the fact that artists are not getting any return on their investment, they have given the privilege to call the shots on the song’s price, register, submit their works for free and determine the prices of music. Rising Hip hop artiste Prince Butawo a.k.a Noble Stylz whose music was made available on this music distribution platform was full of praises for this ground breaking initiative that will obviously benefit local artists and music lovers in particular. He told Zimba Nice that as artists they welcome the new development as it will go a long way in sustaining their music business. The stylish rappers music including his new album Masofa Panze 2 which was released last month is available on Olova. In his parting words Moyo said, “We have also considered price sensitivity of the Zimbabwean market and current competition where all the guys on the street sell music and the money doesn’t go to the artiste hence song prices are determined by the artist. “Artists can get their music on the app for free. Factor O engages artistes in distribution contracts where 70 percent of the revenue goes to the artiste while we take only 30 percent to cover administration and running costs,’ said co-founder Moyo.- Zimba Nice
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 07:56:18 +0000
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