Beres Hammond no show cost Delta $60,000

Zimbabwe is currently a hot spot with Jamaican Reggae artists queuing to come and perform in the country. since the hugely successful Delta Beer Fest which featured Bennie Man in 2010, we have seen an influx of Reggae artists coming to perform in the country. Reggae has huge following in the country hence, the success of such shows. What baffles the mind in my opinion is the disparity local promoters pay to foreign and local musicians. 

For instance a local RnB artist is paid $500 or at most $1000 to participate in any musical show whilst Jamaican reggae artists are pocketing more than $30,000 per show. How do we promote and elevate our local musicians when we pay them peanuts? The Herald reported Delta lost $60,000 in appearance fees when Beres Hammond did not come for the Beer Fest last weekend. Where is our music industry headed to? How do we promote growth for the local industry? Food for thought . Read the Delta story below:

DELTA Beverages, reportedly lost US$60 000 in performance fees for Beres Hammond who was billed to perform at the annual Lion Lager Beer Festival on Saturday. Cocoa Tea and Fantan Mojah had to perform without their fellow Jamaican as it emerged that the beverages giant might have been swindled. The company had employed the services of Nhamo Chitimbe of Shumba Instrumentation, a local reggae promoter who has in the past brought in Luciano and Sizzla, to handle ALL negotiations with the artistes.

Sources close to the deal said Delta paid Cocoa Tea and Fantan Mojah $30 000 each while Beres Hammond "got" $60 000, amounts which observers say are obscene and buck the trend. Speaking on condition of anonymity one source said it was unbelievable that a company as huge as Delta had left everything in the hands of Chitimbe. The source further questioned the reason behind dumping Yedu

Nesu, who made the contact last year that brought Beanie Man. "The whole thing smells fishy and someone must explain what happened because Delta was only informed at the very last minute that Beres would not be coming because he had other shows lined up," said the source. Delta Beverages' marketing and communications manager Patricia Murambinda said they had started the process to find out what transpired and were still waiting for word from Mr Hammond yesterday.

"Normally as Delta we do not engage the artistes that perform at our functions because we don't have the expertise so we hire promoters who are the experts in the field. Just like what we do with Chibuku Neshamwari and Road to Fame, the National Arts Council deals with the music groups and not us.

"However, we did pay for Beres to perform although I cannot state how much we paid him. So far I have only managed to get hold of Spencer Chiwota who works with Mr Chitimbe but he has directed me to speak to Chitimbe himself," she said. She added that it was unfortunate that Beres could not perform because it put a dent on their reputation especially after hosting a number of previous successful shows which include Beanie Man's majestic performance last year. (The Herald)