From Tim and a Fish Blog
‘Breaking international’ is at the forefront of local musicians’ minds but in order to navigate the ocean you must first conquer the pond. Many musicians struggle to survive the South African music industry. With so many fish in the sea, it helps to understand just how deep the local water is. Music exchange, which took place at the Victoria Junction Hotel in Green Point Cape Town on from 22-24 March 2010, is an initiative developed to educate artists and producers about how the South African music industry functions, and how it can benefit them. One of the panellists at the conference, Sean Wienand of Headline Artist’s Management and former owner of Mercury (one of Cape Town’s popular live venues), believes that “practice makes perfect”.
According to Sean, the main challenge facing local musicians is money. Sean explains that any product requires capital investment in order to promote and gain retail traction. Bearing in mind that investment from record companies is on a steady decline largely due to the lack of investment capital available. This stems from a global drop in album sales, says Charles Goldstack (CEO Touchtunes Interactive, former CEO of Bertelsmann Music Group USA) who spoke earlier at the conference. Sean offers a solution to local musicians by suggesting that they develop creative marketing models and spend funds on carving out a space for themselves in the “over-populated, under-supported and under-resourced” market we operate in.
Yoel Kenan, former senior vice president of international marketing at Sony BMG, was among the speakers at Music Exchange commenting on ‘how to break international.’ Although it’s true that 95% of music is illegally downloaded, to the detriment of musicians, Yoel assures that in light of web 2.0 advances there has been an overall change in consumer behaviour and that music is more consumed today than ever before. With the new broadband capabilities available the digital revolution plays a pivotal role in the modern musician’s means of communicating a product to a target audience. New artists, as a result, have a better chance of getting recognition than ever before. Charles adds that this is where the record and publishing companies can assist artists in capitalising on these opportunities for commercial success.
Nick Motsatse, CEO of The South African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO), also spoke at the conference. Nick commented on how SAMRO are aiding musicians by helping them protect their rights and claim their royalties for their work regardless of the vast online mediums used. Nick spoke on the implementation of the “Needle Time Right” for performer’s protection right. This new law will protect the rights of musicians when their music is played live. The Needle Time Right ensures that the performer, composer and publisher will all receive their respective royalty payments if the song is registered with SAMRO.
Other organisations working towards strengthening the local industry include The Cape Music Industry Commission (Cape MIC) who are an NGO uniquely placed to facilitate and support music and economic growth in the Western Cape. They achieve this through the number of initiatives put into operation on a regular basis. A recent being a workshop geared towards teaching individuals how to produce a live music event, “They are doing some fantastic work in the education field,” says Sean, “Commercial ventures such as Your LMG magazine that are all striving to elevate the cause we all believe in. In addition, most venue owners, retailers, labels and peripheral music industry operatives are all contributing something to the cause.”
When I asked Sean about his predictions for the future of the Industry, he said that it was a big question, and one that he would probably have to charge me for to answer. He did say that the industry is surprisingly healthy and that the future looked bright, for musicians and business men alike.
Being among one of the many fish myself, I too find it hard to fight the strong back-current on my journey up the stream of music success. In the words of Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse (former SAMA Lifetime Achievement Award winner) “The road ahead is long, but what you have as a talent belongs to you. Be yourself, invest in yourself, and your talent will serve you.”
Tim Lester
Hill goes full-time
