Last week, I started a new series titled “Unsolicited and Free advice”. ‘Unsolicited and Free advice’ is a feature that will be published once a month, in which I offer unsolicited and free advice to creative practitioners on various things. The first episode of ‘Unsolicited and Free Advice’ focused on Azaria, Latoya Stella, Kandaha, C-Jay, NH-Dwayne and Prime Rose.
I did not get much blowback or push for my unsolicited and free advice on their brands. Will it be safe to assume that they genuinely looked at my unsolicited and free advice and considered it? I sure hope so. Again, it’s not meant to demean or discourage any creative practitioner. It really is just to be that voice of reason. To be that “no man”.
Namibian creatives in general need that. Namibian creatives have too many “Yes” people around them. Moving on to other matters… I’d like to plug music producers on a potential bag. A conversation recently with DJ Dozza made me realise that I actually never put pen to paper on what I am about to share.
The chat I had with Elvo “Dr Mavovo” on the podcast version of this column made me realise that producers actually get short-changed by artists in this country. Elvo consistently produced some of the biggest songs but found himself in a dire financial situation. The late Araffath found himself in a similar position before his passing.
The fact is this: producers do not make the money they deserve in Namibia. They get a once-off payment for putting a song together and that’s that. The artist uses that song to make money every weekend. The artist performs that song two or three times in one night and gets paid accordingly. An artist that is relevant and popping today can make anything between N$20,000 to N$30 000 per weekend from gigs. Again… keep in mind that the producer who produced that song was paid only once.
There are no royalty talks for producers in Namibia. Let’s be brutally honest. If there are royalty talks, it probably just goes as far as airplay payouts. Which… as we know, amounts to nothing because Namibian songs hardly rotate on Namibian radio. So yes, it should not be surprising that the likes of Dr Mevovo were struggling. Music producers need to come to the realisation that artists are the most selfish human beings on earth. No artist will say, “From every gig I get, I will give you 10%”. That simply does not happen.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Music producers… the advertising game is wide open. It’s there for the taking. You stand to make more money from agencies and companies by producing their adverts. Diversify and align your business model to the advertising space. That’s the only way. Basing your whole business on artists as a professional music producer will have you in a similar position to Dr Mevovo and Araffath.
Yes, we all love music. Does it pay, though? Is it sustainable? It’s time to have a brutally honest conversation with yourself.
Until the next Loop, we say #GMTM
Need an MC? I’m YOUR guy. Hit me up…naobebsekind@gmail.com