Chibuku shakes up Road to Fame
The 2014 Chibuku Road to Fame Music Competition promises to be a thrilling and exciting encounter after sponsors announced a review of the sponsorship which will see the winning band carting home K1 million.
This is more than triple the initial prize money of K300 000 (US$737) which winners were getting as the main cash prize.
Both Chibuku and Musicians Union of Malawi (MUM) confirmed this in separate interviews yesterday.
According to Chibuku Products Limited (CPL) marketing manager Timothy Sukali, the sponsors have been holding meetings on the future of the project and one of the topical issues was about raising the stakes.
He said they established that the K12 million (US$29 484) which goes to the competition is little and needs to be increased.
Sukali said they have since increased the sponsorship package to K15 million (US$36 855)
“We want to make the competition attractive and competitive. One of the ways is by increasing the stakes and prizes to the winning groups. We believe that K15 million is a better sum and I can inform the nation that from this year, the winning group will be winning K1 million as the main prize apart from the music recording package,” he said.
MUM treasure general Young Chilaga, who is also coordinator of the competition, said the prize money is attractive and will make the competition more exciting.
He said he is happy that CPL is impressed with the way they are managing the competition and promised to maintain the course and ensure deserving bands win in the competition.
This year’s competition kicks off on April 26 with a launch in Blantyre while the national finals are slated for July 5 In Lilongwe.
Meanwhile, Sukali is in Lusaka, Zambia where he will unveil the fruits of the competition at a regional meeting.
“One of the conditions of the winner is to record an album and the objective is to create a platform from which the group can make a name from. We were supposed to take Pamloga Band’s album, but they have delayed in releasing it. I have an album released by Lusubilo Band and I will share with the participants to appreciate what some of our initiatives are yielding,” he said.
