Call to enter The Wawela Awards

SAMRO's deputy CEO, Sipho Dlamini, said: "The art begins when the song is written." The Wawela Music Awards are about recognising and rewarding the composers and authors of music for their remarkable contribution to creating music.

There's no doubt that South African music is getting increased recognition on a global scale. Despite this, our musicians - particularly songwriters - still struggle to gain exposure.

As a champion of music rights SAMRO has stepped in with an initiative that will achieve the education and promotion of locally composed music.

Dlamini said: "The Wawela Music Awards also recognise composers for their achievements on the international stage. Quite often the people who write the music are not those you hear performing the songs or appearing in music videos. For this reason, composers find it harder to get exposure for their work. The Wawela Music Awards are about recognising composers and songwriters who contribute to the final composition."

A whole process behind the final product

Hip hop icon Proverb agreed: "There's a whole process behind the final product. The wonderful thing about this initiative is that it acknowledges a key part in the process of creating music, which is the composing and song-writing aspect of the end product."

Considering the scale of the music business, there are also more than enough opportunities for great compositions to shine. In a multi-platform world, musical works may now feature in many ways internationally: from music used in TV commercials and movies to music used in radio ads, there are countless ways a song can achieve international success.

Dlamini feels that it is important for us to embrace locally-produced and composed music. "The hope is to use these awards to raise awareness among SA musicians of the huge opportunities that lie in international territories, and to educate musicians about the broader business of music in order to help them enjoy a more prosperous career in the industry. By creating a platform to tell the tale of SA achievements, SAMRO hopes to raise the profile of our music and generate newfound respect both at home and abroad for our talented musicians."

Proverb echoed the sentiment, commenting: "Getting into music is not easy and staying in music is even more challenging. This is why it becomes more important for us as musicians to find other avenues for the use of our music, such as television commercials, film scores and so forth. This is why I endorse the Wawela Music Awards."

The Wawela Music Awards are open to all SAMRO members whose music has featured internationally.

Members can submit their music and learn more about the awards, which are sponsored by SAMRO, by going to www.wawelamusicawards.co.za. Entries Close on 2 April 2013.