SA: Music In Ads doccie to premiere on 11 March

Music and Innovation was founded by a group of young musicians – Mpumelelo Mtetwa, Sipho Zondo and Lindani Ntsibande. The company is 100% black-owned and specialises in creating original music, sound design and audio-visual content for all formats of advertising and media, including TV commercials and digital content.

The documentary explores the role of music in advertising and educates musicians about different ways to monetise their works. It narrates the three founders’ stories and delves into the vision of entrepreneurs who grew up in townships, Ntsibande said.

Ntsibande told Music In Africa that viewers of the documentary could expect to learn about how to produce a jingle. The film also breaks down a number adverts from top South African producers and sound designers.

Music In Ads is planned to screen across South Africa. “There will be a national tour of the doccie where we will be hosting live screenings at schools, universities and public locations,” Ntsibande said. “Our aim is to share this knowledge and insight with as many people as possible, especially with the significant impact of COVID-19 in the music industry. We think it is important that musicians learn about another way of generating income in music.”

Additionally, an original soundtrack for the Music in Ads tour will be released, in addition to other projects and collaborations.

Mtetwa, Zondo and Ntsibande began writing and producing jingles in a bedroom studio in the Katlehong township. The first jingle they produced was for a Sanofi Diabetes campaign, which was used in activations in Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal. The jingle reached more than 100 000 people with the help of radio airplay. The trio has also worked with Shield, Uber, Kellogg’s and Standard Bank, among others big brands.