In this blog I'm going to be looking a lot at how the lessons learned by the music industry in terms of distribution, copyright protection, audience development, online marketing etc. can be applied to our regional tv industry. And to reiterate the cross-over, Senegalese master-musician Baaba Maal has announced the release of his new album entitled, Television - a groundbreaking successor to 2001's Missing You.
The title-track refers to that African phenomenon - ubiquitous TV screens. "The television set is like a stranger you didn't ask for coming into your living-room," explains Baaba. "You don't care about who he is: he just seems to come from nowhere and gives you information."
Now we just need to get Eastern Cape product onto those screens.....
Television is a collaboration primarily between Baaba Maal and singer Sabina Sciubba and keyboardist Didi Gutman, both members of New York's Brazilian Girls. The result is a stunningly beautiful and diverse record that meshes two genres, generally unfamiliar to each other, to produce an eclectic and romantic sound.