In the course of my job, I come across quite a few music promoters and event organizers some of whom part of their jobs are sourcing for performing music acts to fill in slots in relation to one event or the other. The most common complaints I get from these professionals are in regards to the amount of performance fee some artists are willing to accept . I will give you a common – but real scenario that actually happened very recently somewhere in Nairobi.
Promoter “A” was approached by a potential client who wanted artists to perform at an awareness campaign for a charity organization – budget $3000. Promoter A pledged to provide 2 quality acts for that amount only to be shocked when the said potential client personally sourced 5 Radio featured (known) acts for less than $1000.
I sat down with this promoter, who – incredulous at how cheap his client had sourced these 5 popular acts was complaining about the dire situation of the music industry in Kenya (which is where we are located). However I had a different twist and an alternative take on the situation which I shall not restrict to the Kenyan geographical location alone.
Across the African content there are fantastic examples of performing artists whom have struck gold and become more famous than most of us ever thought possible for a pop act within the continent. Prominent examples are Wizkid and Tekno Miles from Nigeria, Sarkodie from Ghana and Diamond Platnumz from Tanzania. But for every success story, there are 10 of failure and poverty.
As is the case anywhere in the world, building up a successful music brand takes a lot of financial commitment – it is a business fraught with tremendous risks and disappointment. It is extremely difficult or near impossible to find a bank in Kenya, Nigeria or any country in Africa or I dare say the world that will give you a loan based on a business plan termed ‘Promotion & Monetization of the Extremely Talented Music Act MC Such and Such”. This is simply because in the music industry especially for an act that is untried and untested there is no way to estimate return on investment or even when that return will occur – if ever.
The above may paint a bleak picture but it is a fact that in countries like Tanzania, South Africa and Nigeria, individual, young daring entrepreneur’s are indeed investing in music and in some cases reaping huge benefits. What we need in Africa are not only more visionaries willing to invest in the music industry but also a structure which involves a clear path to the distribution and monetization of content and transparent distribution of returns to content owners and creators be it record labels or the artist.
Once a structure is established and an efficient way to manage all components involved within this structure (distribution, promotion, monetization, PR etc) is put in place , the lives of musicians will improve. This will mean that an artist will have multiple, trackable sources of revenue and will not need to compromise on his or her worth just to pay rent.
About the Author
Chinasa Udeala is the Regional Director (East Africa) Mobile Apps at TECNO Mobile.
He is a digital content business professional experienced in business development, Content acquisition and Digital content provider relationship management.
