Link to Soundcloud site: https://soundcloud.com/strzanzibar As the only record company in Zanzibar, Stone Town Records (STR) originally eluded us. Entering through a winding corridor of concrete steps, we finally emerged into the spacious open-air coworking space, wondering where Stone Town Records could be, not really sure what to expect. Mixed with tenants and businesses, clothes hung from lines and sustainable planters were hung all around, contributing to the local permaculture business. Through this peaceful, collaborative vibe, we entered the small corner studio of Stone Town Records. A young man, producing director Walid Ecta (known ad DJ Walid), was playing an upbeat, well-mixed track in the acoustic paneled room. Embodying the grassroots passion for music that Stone Town Records is centered around, Walid became part of the team through persistence to showcase his DJ talents to the team. He is part of a group of 5 local artists that the record company supports. After listening to his story of burgeoning within Stone Town Records, we got to meet their CEO and creative director Mash Marley. Mash is probably one of the most passionate people we have met about music and spreading its benefits to the community. He studied music at the prestigious The Mwalim Nyerere Memorial Academy in Dar es Salaam. After graduating, he realized how important it was to him to created creative spaces in the Zanzibar community and through a grant from a German music foundation, began the journey that led to STR. Stone Town Records prides itself on being the only record company in Zanzibar. They want to help local artists as much as possible and spread the positive message of music around the island. Most of the team are musicians themselves, which is how they started STR in 2015. They are also part of a larger collective of creative entrepreneurs called Creative Education and Empowerment Zanzibar that promotes social change through a for-profit company. All vocals and mixing takes place within the corner studio we visited. STR has a unique sound, unlike anything we have ever heard before. We were pleasantly surprised how genuinely cool the mixes were and definitely thought that they would be popular back in the States. STR is passionate about creating unexpected collaborations of cultures and incorporates English, Swahili, German, French and other languages into the music it produces. Their slogan “Connection. Community. Creativity.” well articulates their mission. STR is currently looking for ways to maintain steady revenue to purchase a more reliable mixing board and to expand into a bigger studio somewhere else in Zanzibar, away from the familiar ground of Stone Town, with the goal of the world knowing their music. Their current revenue stream mainly comes from selling t-shirts, other merchandise, and food and drinks at their numerous community concerts and events, as part of their mission currently includes not charging the artists they support. They do have a strict selection criteria however, so only artists that align with their values and exhibit unique talent are supported by their company. Amber and Hannah
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