Over 200 Creatives to Benefit
The annual Winners from the Yarona FM Music Awards (YAMAs) have received a staggering P1.4 million sponsors First National Bank of Botswana Limited (FNBB), Mascom and Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC) respectively which is expected to benefit over 200 creatives.
MYSC is the biggest contributor to the sponsorship after popping up P800 000 followed by FNBB which contributed P500 000 and Mascom which sponsored P150 000. This staggering amount means that winners will walk away with staggering prize money in their respective 17 categories the largest amount being P60 000 which has been set for the People’s Choice Artists of the Year category winner followed by Song of the Year category which has a P40 000 share.
“Over 200 creatives such as musicians, dancers, instrumentalists, fashion designers, graphic designers and creative directors are expected to benefit from the money that we have received from our sponsors. This is the first time that we will have winners walking away with large sums of money such as P60 000, this will be the first in the history of music awards in the country. As the event organizers we appreciate that the sponsors have assisted on our quest of developing the arts industry especially during this COVID- 19 era which has resulted in most artists losing their jobs,” said Percy Raditladi YAMAS Project Manager
From the P1.4million an amount of P325 000 will be set as the overall prize money for all the categories. This development comes at a time when the arts industry is suffering from a huge blow of not being fully active for almost two years. It’s a development that industry players will accept with open arms but now it is up to the nominees to ensure that they get enough votes from their supporters across the country.
The YAMAS Project Manager mentioned that the voting lines are still open and will be closed on September 6 with the main event scheduled to take place on the last week of the same month. He encouraged Batswana to vote for their favorite artists who have been nominated in various categories.
Best Social Media- P10 000.00 Mascom and MYSC
Producer of the Year P10 000.00 Mascom and MYSC
Best PoP- P10 000.00 MYSC
BEST NEWCOMER-P10 000.00 MYSC
BEST KWAITO -P10 000.00 MYSC
BEST DANCE SINGLE -P10 000 MYSC
BEST COLLABO- P10000 MYSC
BEST HIP HOP-P10 000.00 MYSC
BEST DJ -P10 000.00 MYSC
BEST AMAPIANO-P10 000.00 MYSC
BEST RnB SINGLE -P10 000.00 MYSC
Icon Award – P25, 000 FNBB
Hall of Fame – P30, 000 FNBB
Best Male – P15, 000 MYSC & P15, 000 FNBB [P30, 000]
Best Female – P15, 000 MYSC & P15, 000 FNBB [P30, 000]
Song of the Year – P10, 000 MYSC & P30, 000 FNBB [P40, 000]
People’s Choice Artist of the Year – P10, 000 MYSC, P35, 000 FNBB & P15, 000 Private donor [P60, 000]