Artist empowerment
Guidelines to a successful industry
Namscam, in partnership with the NAMAs held a musical workshop, long overdue, aimed at empowering artists in the music industry. The workshop that was poorly attended even though the artists who were in Walvis Bay for the Namibia Annual Music Awards (NAMA) had influential speakers who traveled from as far as Botswana and South Africa to be part of the panel discussion on topics like, how artist can make a living in the music industry.
The workshop which was held under the theme of empowering artists in the musical industry had a panelist from Botswana who encouraged veteran artists to be at the forefront of voicing the concerns of the industry, instead of letting new artists lead the fight. Rev Abe Sibiya also said it is about time that the governments played a leading role in spearheading the development of the industry instead of letting the corporate world lead. “You need to protect your industry. Local content should also receive prominence. You guys have to create a sort of protection for the industry,” he said. Sibiya also gave an example of how Botswana has a system whereby radio stations play 60% local music and 40% international music, which is a way of encouraging international artists to partner and feature with Tswana artists in order to get airplay. Sibiya further advised artists not to attack Nascam if their royalties are not paid, saying that they should rather unite and stand together to build a strong music industry.
Local music analyst Robert Shipanga touched on sales and how artists need to change the methods of selling their work. He said artists need to reduce their album costs as they are too high for them make sales and consequently profit. He compared our sales to neighboring country South Africa where artists sell their albums for N$ 36 to retailers, who then add a markup to sell to the public, whilst Namibian artists sell their albums to retailers for N$100 and by the time the retailer has added his markup, it is too expensive for the public. “We don’t have standardised pricing for our albums and that is where we go wrong. We need to agree on prices for our albums, because even if you were to take the albums to Musica, by the time they add their markup it will be too expensive,” he said.
Local producer Sula Kyababa spoke of other ventures artists can make money out of, as album sales are not profitable anymore. He spoke about branding as an easy way of making money in the digital era. “One needs to brand them properly and approach companies to be the brand ambassadors. I have done it and it is successful. One just needs a creative team that guides one to start making money,” he said. Kyababa concluded by saying the way forward in the industry is for unity, for future generations to benefit from.
June Shimuoshili
The workshop which was held under the theme of empowering artists in the musical industry had a panelist from Botswana who encouraged veteran artists to be at the forefront of voicing the concerns of the industry, instead of letting new artists lead the fight. Rev Abe Sibiya also said it is about time that the governments played a leading role in spearheading the development of the industry instead of letting the corporate world lead. “You need to protect your industry. Local content should also receive prominence. You guys have to create a sort of protection for the industry,” he said. Sibiya also gave an example of how Botswana has a system whereby radio stations play 60% local music and 40% international music, which is a way of encouraging international artists to partner and feature with Tswana artists in order to get airplay. Sibiya further advised artists not to attack Nascam if their royalties are not paid, saying that they should rather unite and stand together to build a strong music industry.
Local music analyst Robert Shipanga touched on sales and how artists need to change the methods of selling their work. He said artists need to reduce their album costs as they are too high for them make sales and consequently profit. He compared our sales to neighboring country South Africa where artists sell their albums for N$ 36 to retailers, who then add a markup to sell to the public, whilst Namibian artists sell their albums to retailers for N$100 and by the time the retailer has added his markup, it is too expensive for the public. “We don’t have standardised pricing for our albums and that is where we go wrong. We need to agree on prices for our albums, because even if you were to take the albums to Musica, by the time they add their markup it will be too expensive,” he said.
Local producer Sula Kyababa spoke of other ventures artists can make money out of, as album sales are not profitable anymore. He spoke about branding as an easy way of making money in the digital era. “One needs to brand them properly and approach companies to be the brand ambassadors. I have done it and it is successful. One just needs a creative team that guides one to start making money,” he said. Kyababa concluded by saying the way forward in the industry is for unity, for future generations to benefit from.
June Shimuoshili
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