Marketing oneself in the music world

place in and around Zimbabwe.
You will find their names appearing at concerts, promotional shows, special launch functions, cocktails, corporate dinners etc. Theses include Suluman Chimbetu, Winky D, Alick Macheso, Tongai Moyo, Jazz Invitation, Dudu Manhenga, Alexio Kawara, Mic Inity and Stunner.

It makes business sense for any promoter bringing in a foreign musician/group to include Winky D as part of the line up.
As the business community picks up rhythm and tempo, a lot of promotional shows are being run in order to engage the market.
Not surprising again, the same names are used as draw cards to the show.

When you then look at the pool of musicians we have today due to the somewhat favourable environment (production wise, I mean it’s easy nowadays to record anywhere, anytime), the choice is varied. Yet you never see the rest of the musicians getting an opportunity to showcase at these occasions or associated with any local brands.

And so the question is are show organisers biased or the musicians don’t know how to tap into these opportunities?
While a lot of guys are making news and topping the local charts, you never meet them performing at weddings, parties, clubs doing what they know best.

It is common practice these days that every musician is recording and using the material as a marketing and publicity tool. With the price of CDs and the printing fairly reasonable, CDs are being given left, right and centre. Whether they are falling into the right hands or not is something else. The question that arises is how much business is coming out of this effort?

What benefit is it for one to top the local radio charts and still remain broke? This is a scenario that seems to characterise the local music industry today.
The international music industry is a business taken seriously by those who run it. Careful thought and research is put in before any musician is signed on or promoted especially when the musician/s are coming from African countries.

International music festival promoters when taking on unfamiliar musicians especially from Africa take into consideration that in the recording studio voices and instrument performances can be manipulated to perfect the end product.

What they are looking for is an artiste/s who can deliver a quality performance both in the studio recording as well as at a live performance. This is because live performances are what draws the crowds and increase sales.

Do you remember the days when it was difficult to sign a recording contract or deal with reputable record labels locally? It all boiled down to the same facts as above – how far can the artiste go in studio or on a live stage? Can we make money with you to be precise?

Today with the abundance of studios those factors no longer come in play. If you have the money to record you can do it even if you sound like a frog. The producers will make you feel your produce is okay. A lot of make up, vocoders, pitch raisers, correctors will enhance your music.

Having done all that one can, I have often heard a lot of musicians debating and arguing among themselves why things are not happening, why no one seems to be interested in them and I have found that they all seem to run away from the real factors.

The artistes that I mentioned above demonstrate real value and have defined their brand and so anyone is prepared to partner with then and be assured of overwhelming returns on their project.
By the way no one is going to engage you on charity bases, or just mere sympathy. You will have to work for it.

Here are some few questions you need to ask yourself before blaming and complaining about promoters, venue entertainment managers and the business community for not considering you on their line-up.

Do I have the talent?

How much make up has been added to my original voice in the studio?

Can I reproduce myself exactly as I sound on the CD?

The more natural you are the more likely you are to draw attention and gain mileage. Be real and you will attract big bucks and real life opportunities.