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RADIO IS STILL THE SHXT!!


I was super excited to be at the Media Development & Diversity Agency (MDDA) Grantee Orientation Workshop 2023, where we got to see this little-known organization in action, doing what they set out to achieve through their mandate.


The MDDA's mission is to support the development of a vibrant, innovative, sustainable, and people-centered community and small commercial media sector through resourcing, critical sector insights, capacity-building, and ensuring inclusive participation of historically disadvantaged communities.

you can see on their website what they are truly about mdda website


It was particularly interesting to experience this workshop happening in the backdrop of the Telkom Radio Awards and Spotify Wrapped just a few days prior.


Being there and seeing how they continue to guide and support community radio into the future, despite many detractors of the sector claiming the "death" of radio.


I mentioned Spotify Wrapped because for a while, particularly in music circles, artists are of the opinion that streaming platforms would change things in their favor. However, as we have obviously seen lately from the artists complaining about how little they make from these platforms, people like Snoop Dogg saying that they have received as little as 45 thousand dollars for a billion streams. From that alone, you can imagine how unknown up-and-coming artists are faring.


The community and small commercial media sector is still the best place to support and empower artists, provided the sector overcomes its legacy challenges and aligns with new innovations in technology.


Being at the MDDA conference gave me insight into the challenges radio stations are facing: issues with incompetent station managers, compliance issues, useless board members, and the lack of involvement from the communities.


But the three-day conference, which happens annually and has been in existence for the past 20 years, capacitating the sector, proved that radio, along with the various stakeholders' support, can continue to create opportunities for artists.


Some of the organizations in attendance were the BCCSA talking on content regulation, the GCIS discussing media bulk buying and the sector's sustainability, SARS addressing tax compliance for public benefit organizations and exemption from income tax, and DSD discussing NPO registration and compliance. A lot was said by many other speakers, and you can find the live recording of the whole program on this link below.đŸ‘‡đŸ‘‡

Facebook live broadcast


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