Dis article was written by Omojuwa..... Very interesting. Music Stake holders, Music Artistes, Artistes Managers and everyone, dis is for you....


I might as well digress from the start. I ought not to be
the one writing this because for starters, I am not an
artist and I am definitely not an expert of the music
industry or any industry for that matter. But someone
has to say something and I’ve got the microphone now.
We have put our super stars in a box where they can
hardly share their opinions on an issue without such
opinions being deemed as them hating on the
successes of others or being condemned as some sort
of subliminal. That leaves us in a place where such
people would rather keep their thoughts to themselves.
In writing this, one sought the opinion of some top
artists, all of whom currently have songs on the top ten
and one also got the opinion of some soon to be great
performers too. Some of their thoughts are crystallized
in my own words below.

Gone are the days where the Nigerian or African music
consumer is excited about a collabo between our artists
and those from across the ocean, mostly from the U.S.
Hip-Hop community. We have seen 2face and R-Kelly,
we have seen D’Banj and Snoop Dogg, P-Square and
Rick Ross, Vector and Movado, Akon and everybody,
Davido and Meek Mill and down to the most recent one,
Wizzy, Skepta and Drake. Some of the tracks that came
off such collaborations came off as great, some just
there somewhere above mediocrity and for some
others, their place in oblivion will never be threatened.
Best forgotten.

This piece is hardly about the art as it is about the
business end of such collaborations. Whether the
featured artist phones in his/her part of the track or
actually gets into the studio to do the recording, at the
bottom of each move is the desire to make a name for
one self and also cash some money. One for the
money!

We can take it from the point of an artist who is already
doing great numbers on the continent. When such an
artist features say a Jay Z on a new track, the purpose
has to then go beyond being recognized or respected on
the continent. At the point D’banj and Don Jazzy had
Snoop Dogg on Endowed remix, they were arguably
bigger on the continent than Snoop was so one cannot
claim that the collaboration was to make the then
Mo’Hits artists bigger. It raised their street cred no
doubt but Snoop Dogg will not make Africans buy an
African artist they are already very much into. It did help
D’banj’s resume that he had some relationship with
Snoop when Kanye West came calling; that feature had
bolstered his resume. Akon has been on tracks with
WizKid, P-Square, D’Banj, Davido (and others too
numerous to mention) and many would probably even
consider him some sort of African artist now. But today,
virtually all the artists who featured Akon are doing
better in African clubs than Akon is. Does featuring
Akon boost your resume? Of course yes! Does it add to
your popularity in Africa if you are say a P Square or
Davido? Not much.

It is a false assumption to think that by featuring T.I.
you have broken into the American market. Not that
easy except T.I. goes out of his way to put that song on
his own album and you are on tour with him to promote
the said track. How have featured International artists
treated virtually all the collabos with African artists? Like
something they’d rather forget as soon as the
production was done. You don’t see them tweeting links
to the song as they would features with their
contemporaries in America. You do not see them big up
such tracks on Hot 97 or other respected Hip-Hop
platforms in America.

At times, it does feel like a relationship between a guy
and a sex worker. You pay for the service, she serves
you, and you are out. The hooker does not reference
you, your relationship ended after you paid. The sex
was nothing but her doing her job. You had fun, she had
money! The relationship between our artists and these
International acts is not as graphic but anyone who is
sincere enough would get the drift; the International
artist gets his/her cash, does the motions and is off. No
promotion, no sustained acknowledgement on social
media and zilch mentions on U.S. radio on television
networks.

There is a next step to these transatlantic
collaborations. Let me state that we are closer into
breaking into the U.S. market today than we were say
five years ago. I mean, even Jay Z used Nigeria’s Hip-
Hop market to prop up some reputation for his Tidal! So
we are close but we could remain close for the next five
years and not actually break in if we are just okay with
featuring these artists and not looking to cash in on
such collabos in the American market.

Collaborations should come with agreements that
include expectations on the featured artist’s post-studio
work. Why feature an artist who’s got a combined 10
million Twitter, Facebook, Instragram and YouTube fans
if such will not sign up to post links to our feature
across all those channels on an agreed number of
times? Our artists also need to commit the artists to TV
and radio mentions. This music business is more of a
business today than it is music; is that not why those
involved in the business are making more money than
most of those making the music?

We are desperate to see a home boy or girl break into
the U.S. market. It is more likely to happen via a collabo
with an established star (say Rihanna) than with a solo
effort. See what the Beyonce feature did to
Chimamanda Adichie and Aunty Ngozi no be artist o.
Breaking into the U.S. market is one thing, sustaining it
is another but we can have that discussion after we
break in.

According to PwC, the global music revenue for 2015 is
expected to be $48 billion . That is some $18 billion
above Nigeria’s average yearly national budget. The
U.S. market share of that is $15 billion. Note that
revenue is not the same as investment. Our industry is
not yet a $1 billion industry . Can we offer the featured
artists more than the cash they get paid? We cannot at
the moment. The African music industry is still at an
inchoate stage at best and the numbers are not juicy
enough for an established U.S. artist to want to commit
to. The potentials are vast and with increasing Internet
penetration, our artists and other stakeholders can start
making top dollar from the digital sales of their content.
For now, what the International act gets is the cash at
hand, but can our artists start making their dollars count
beyond being able to say “I have featured several
International stars” in an interview to saying on U.S.
TV, “I am not a one hit wonder. I have produced several
hits in Africa and I am sure I will add more hits to my
current track enjoying airplay across America.” It is
possible if we start thinking along that line.

Japheth J Omojuwa is a Nigerian blogger, socio-
economic and political commentator, environmental
consultant, and social media expert. He’s the curator of
Omojuwa.com.





http://notjustok.com/2015/07/20/nigerian-artists-and-international-collabos-whats-next-by-omojuwa/

Ok

this actually a brilliant article