GALLO RECORDS

The African Popular Music Industry’s central deficiency is infrastructure .The prevalence of industry institutions like labels, production houses, media organizations, credible retail outlets serve the growth of successful record industries worldwide. The record deal or recording contract for example is the ultimate dream of any professional musician. An attachment to a record company/label allows the singer to nurture his craft within the abode of an institution that works in many ways like a family with the artists as a child and the label as parent. Whether major (large scale operations) or independent (small scale operations) labels.

Record labels carry out any or all of the following:

1. Acts as a business entity, which contractually finances the multi-faceted development of the singer within the space of a number of projects. The artist cannot single-handed undertake the cost of production, marketing and promotion of his work. Songs, videos, albums and concerts are some possible projects. The label recoups its investment from short, mid and long-term sales of these projects.

2. Through it’s A&R (Artist and Repertoire) department it may discover an artist, a process that implies that the unknown artist is signed and exposed to a music audience through projects released and ambitious marketing. The artist is presented professionally with a debut recording combined with visual promotion for instance music videos.

Newly Signed Gallo artistes: Gigigidi Majimaji from Kenya

3. In some cases it may sign an artist who is already known or even signed to another label by offering a better deal.

4.Depending on the terms and conditions of the contract, through its catalogue it may publish the music with any licensing emanating from its legal and accounting departments. Royalty management is a focal point in the artist’s remuneration over time.

5.Legally represent the artist in the event of disputes or external working arrangements by the artist with other parties. With copyright hassles in Africa this is a viable avenue to redeem the African Popular Musician.

And to African Popular Music this scenario is most welcome but not readily available. South Africa’s Gallo records has done this business since 1926 and currently ranks as a major international record label representing major recording artists and distributing global corporations like WEA (Warner Elektra and Atlantic) besides a roster of independent labels it represents. Many notables of South Africa who have become faces of African Popular Music were or are still handled by this label.Spokes Mashiyane,Miriam Makeba,Solomon Linda, Lucky Dube , Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse, Mahotella Queens, Steve Kekana and Lady Smith Black Mambazo. Gallo is one of the reasons that South African popular Music proliferated into the rest of Africa from the 60s to date.

Gallo artiste Mbongeni Ngema

Located in Rose bank Johannesburg, a strategic confluence of the thriving South Africa Popular Music scene, it maintains regional outreach points in Durban and Cape Town (both started in 1950,Port Elizabeth, Namibia, Buluwayo (Zimbabwe) and Botswana. Its on going penetration into the rest of Africa sees a possible record deal for Gidi Gidi and Maji Maji (from Kenya) who had a stellar performance at the final day of Big Brother Africa 2003.

Well-grounded record labels are often those with a long history. Gallo like Island Records was formed by one man Eric Gallo as Gallotone recordings in 1926.Initially a record store and later selling transistor radio sets, it went into a merger in 1939 with Arnold Golembo’s Gramophone Record Company (GRC) to form Gallo records. In 1946 Gallo acquired the South African franchise of Capitol records America previously Hollywood. Ten years later CBS records replaced Capitol in the arrangement with Gallo till 1995 when Sony South Africa regained this franchise. With a team of professionals experienced in the nitty grittiest of the music industry Gallo prides itself with a strong A&R and Marketing departments that has helped it traverse the thick and thin times of its business. At the bass-line are also solid Sales, Promotions, Distribution and Administrative divisions that support its operations.

Two branches form the core of Gallo records:

1. Gallo Music South Africa (GMSA) dealing with internal (South Africa) operations.
GMSA is further stratified into branches dealing with particular genres and these are diversified giving Gallo an eccentric outlook:
-Gallo Music Production (GMP) specializing in Gospel, Roots, World and Ethnic traditional.
-Gallo World Vision (GMV) specializing in Rock and Pop.
-Gallo Special Projects (GSP) this deals with catalogues, compilations and archives.
-Gallo Urban Black is specific to Urban, Dance and Pop

2. Gallo Music International (GMI).
This arm of Gallo deals with marketing Gallo artists to foreign markets and licensing the works from its artists to foreign companies. It has collaborated with multi-nationals like Universal, Motown and Virgin that made its artists global artists

Gallo records have always assumed un parallel prominence in the African Popular Music Industry sphere and are bound to continue its forefront contribution in the next decades of African Popular Music.