The song of the year has long been one of the most exciting aspects of entering the new year. However, its credibility and anticipation have become questioned as listeners voice concern over the greatly celebrated tradition.
South African radio has been tasked with assisting citizens crossover into the new year in the best way possible, which usually includes a countdown of the top bangers that took over the country throughout the year. both local and national radio stations provide listeners with an opportunity to vote for their favourite songs, and the song with the most votes is honoured with the ‘Song of the Year’ title in the respective stations.
Although the song of the year in each station is essentially decided by the public, many citizens have been vocal about their dissatisfaction with the songs that have come out triumphant in the past couple of years, particularly on major stations such as Ukhozi FM, Umhlobowenene and Metro FM. The belief that certain artists have certain radio stations in their pockets, and therefore benefit unfairly at the expense of others has continued to grow. This was seen when maskandi artist Khuzani was accused of paying off UKhozi FM for his song of the year title in 2023.
This year saw a unique situation where various songs won across various stations, with the late entrance ‘Biri Marung’ taking the title on six different stations including Metro FM and YFM. This has the country split as some believe that the diverse results speak to the level of talent and variety of South African music as a whole, and is a direct reflection of the diverse tastes that people have.
a Lekompo song winning In Limpopo stations, Maskandi winning in Kzn station, Sotho Amapiano winning in Free State Station and Biri Marung winning in the Urban Station makes sense #SongOfTheYear
— Langelihle Nkosi (@Siya___) December 31, 2024
conversely, others believe that all the radio stations should rather combine their votes to reveal one overall winner of the title. Furthermore, some users have different ideas about which song truly deserves to be crowned the song of the year, further pushing the agenda of the tradition and losing its credibility.
Why can’t we have a unified platform for song of the year? Every radio station has their own song of the year. #SongOfTheYear
— Vhahangwele Tsotetsi (@JustJamal_) December 31, 2024
