Windhoek
Namibian music can now reach a larger local and international audience through the Namibia-Music website, an online digital platform designed to promote Namibian talent.
According to one of the founders, Yemen Saunders Jumah, popularly known as Yem Jay, the world is moving forward with technology, people worldwide and across the country spend most of their time online, hence the website gives a platform for local music to be held for a worldwide audience and reach an extensive range of listeners.
Yem Jay adds that the online platform also gives an opportunity to any talented Namibian artist, countrywide, to get their talent exposed.
“Our aim is to expose the hidden talent, put Namibian music on an international map, promote interaction between artists and their fans and play a major role in the Namibian entertainment industry,” says Yem Jay.
Although the website was developed and published in October 2015 by Yem Jay, a computer technician and graphic designer, and Matthias Chitalu, a web/mobile app developer, it only started gaining momentum mid-2016.
This year, the founders are hard at work to make sure the website is well received, especially on an international level.
Yem Jay says the website is also a platform that connects artists and fans, creating a portal for music exchange between music makers and music lovers. The website is currently managed and administered by its founders and offers promotions to artists.
Understanding the fact that not all songs submitted to radio stations can be played due to various regulations and programming constraints, the founders are using the website to circumvent these restrictions and continue supporting local music.
The website uploads content from artists all over Namibia free of charge. Users are able to stream and download the latest singles from artists trying to promote upcoming albums. They can also stream music videos; entertainment news and related current events.
“In order to maintain quality from the quantity of content submitted from artists, content is emailed to the management and verified to ensure it is of good quality and non-offensive or violent…” and the website can be accessed by people of various age, races and cultures, explained Yem Jay.
He adds that N advantage of the site is that it is user-friendly and accessible to people of various levels of technological competence, even young children. He says songs uploaded on the site (http://www.namibia-music.com/) have a unique link that can be shared with fans by the artists for direct downloads.
In addition, the site is closing the fan-to-artist gap. “Our team works hard every day to ensure the website adopts the latest technologies as far as media publishing is concerned. The platform also provides an opportunity to Namibian nationals living abroad to access local music,” concluded Yem Jay.