Making your music accessible

It is no secret that physical album sales have dropped over the years, due to the streaming websites and apps around the world.

This is also the case in Namibia and yet we still find artists who only put their music on SoundCloud and make it available for download on unofficial websites.

I believe if you are to be taken seriously as an artist in this day and age, make use of at least three streaming websites such as Apple Music, Spotify and Deezer.

On the local scene, you can also make use of Donlu Africa, which allows your fans to access your work and then share your music on social media platforms too. Even though it is not exactly affordable, and not all artists have the budget for streaming websites, in the long run the lifespan of your music is guaranteed as the digital footprint is laid.

Streaming websites also makes your music available to the rest of the world, including Namibians who are not in the country.

This makes it easier to cater for everyone and also reach out to new people who could possibility enjoy your music.

Another benefit of putting your music on these platforms is you can get specific data analysis and reports on how your music is doing, which are the most popular songs and where your music is mostly being listened to. Based on this information you can then determine which song from your album, for instance, should be the next single and make resources available for a music video.

Since Donlu Africa launched a few years ago, the music industry in Namibia has changed drastically. Radio stations and major labels are no longer the gatekeepers of distribution and pushing out their best songs. Distribution used to be extremely expensive, but because artists rely less on labels to produce physical copies of their work, it's become easier than ever to distribute their music. This also means that it's easier than ever for people to get music. So many albums dropped recently for which physical copies were not available, but because of streaming sites we were able to listen to those albums. Artists should embrace digitalisation more and make their music more accessible. Of course there are those who still prefer purchasing physical copies, which is fine, and that market is still viable in our country, but I believe more emphasis should be put on digital platforms.

[email protected]; @MichaelMKAY on Twitter