I'm still frustrated by Wande Coal's album.
Sigh.
Artist/Manager and everyone in between
You need to assess your talent to understand their strengths and weaknesses.
You then maximize their strengths and outsource their weaknesses.
Dear Artist,
Please, the moment you have released music (minimum 2 of singles), go and do your EPK.
An EPK is an electronic press kit that serves as your 'cv'.
It includes your bio, discography, press pictures, links to your social media, etc.
You update it as you achieve more.
Dear upcoming artist/manager
Abeg, shows that are ragers or huge mainstream concerts aren't the shows where you go with a 5 track setlist and live instruments in Naija o!
Dear Artist,
Being a Recording artist and a performing artist are two different things o.
Just cos you sound amazing in the studio doesn't mean you should not prepare yourself for the stage.
Artist development doesn't end in the studio o!
Talent Management isn't Vibes and Insha Allah. It isn't balling cos you think the fame must touch you. You are responsible for the success of your clients career, and that is no joke. Check your priorities and focus on why you are here. Don't mess with someone's life!
Dear Gospel Artists,
The same music business principles that are required of secular artists to be successful apply to you as well.
You will distribute with the same distros, pitch to the same dsps, and spend the same amount of money on marketing and promotions.
The biggest oversight in the Nigerian music industry is Artist Development.
Focus always goes towards building a marketable brand at the expense of creative growth and longevity.
This is why our artists peak too soon and fizzle out instead of evolving.
Dear Artists, your managers are working hard for your benefit. Your job is to trust them and Co-operate. They are not slaves, neither are they machines or magicians even if they can perform magic every now and again.
There is more to Nigerian Music than Afrobeats.
The damage done to the existence of genres in our industry back when everyone was hustling to be mainstream is what we are suffering from today.
For a long time, every genre that wasn't 'commercial' was lumped into one category
Dear creatives,
We are a blessed lot, with talents that span over multiple mediums.
Creation and Ideation come to you naturally. For you, it's the 'easiest' part of the process.
But an idea is just an idea until you birth it.
Dear Creatives,
As we enter the last lap on 2023, can we make plans to work with each other. Collaboration is the only way this industry will move forward. I've spent a good part this year watching people struggling to do the same thing and making little headway simply because
Every artist needs a little bit of everything in varying degrees. But no artist will reach their full potential if they or their teams can not identify what they actually need to be at their creative best.
#Selah
Artist Type1 : The Full Package
These are the artists that are the masters of their creativity and are multi-talented. They are the ones who have vocal ability, pen game of destiny, an understanding of who they are, and how they want to express themselves
@GbemiOO
I met the senior who bullied me at a family friend's wedding. She walked up to me, and started crying and begging me to forgive her. She was the main trigger for the anxiety I deal with today. I had to leave the school because of her, after being in the hospital for a month.
Artist Type 2: Vocalists with the gift of Melody
These are artists who can sing for days. They understand their vocal ability and can find themselves in every song. They have "the ear' and understand the melodies and can use this to do vocal gymnastics and show versatily.
Artist Type 3: I can sing it, you do the rest
These are the ones who only understand their voice.
With these artists, you build a creative army around them. You find and create the sound, focus on the voice, and make it the centre piece, and you mould.
and can create their own music either by playing an instrument and/or producing themselves.
All these people need is additional development, anr for quality control and resources to promote the music when it's out
These guys are the ones who find the melody but need help to write and produce the songs. Very few of them are lyricists.
These guys need songwriters, anrs, and producers
More than discovering talent, my first love is A&R and concept development for live shows. Breaking down music and performances for live is a whole different experience.
Phew... here we go!
I've never understood the concept of radio stations charging emerging artists for interviews and not doing the same with the artists we don blow. Why bill the people who can't afford it when the people who can plenty?
We shouldn't being paying for this either ways.
It's not enough to have a great song. You have to be able to create multiple experiences with that song every time you step on stage. That is one thing Psquare has mastered.
Someone needs to pick up both Tolibian and Raybekah. Put them through proper artist development, get them in a room with AnR's that know what they are doing, 'cook them well' and unleash them upon us.
Now that we have sold 80% of our music industry to our colonisers for chump change, I'm waiting to see what will become of the movie industry. Sigh, the creative colonisation of Africa is in full force, the concept of ownership and longevity is lost on us once again.
I'm tired of hearing how resilient Nigerians are.
People are trekking to their destinations and wondering where their next meal will come from.
Businesses are shutting down, downsizing and struggling to stay afloat.
The struggle is real!
Omoeaux! It's been months of planning but now we are ready.
We're going on tour guys and bringing the best rnb experience you've ever had to a living near you!
Please share and we hope to see you there. More details coming soon
Dear Nigerian Artists, don't forget that your unique selling point is the culture in your music o!.
The moment you start trying to sound like your foreign counterparts in a bid to have 'global appeal', you lose the reason why everyone fell in love with you in the first place.
At Babel Music XP in Marseille and I'm both happy and sad. Happy to be here repping my country, learning, and building networks but sad because of how much work we have to do back home.
The concert venues with multiple stages had me close to tears. We will get there, sha
Phew...the things I've done as an independent talent manager in a country like ours... honestly, I have to ask myself how I manage to keep going.
We really need a structure that supports emerging artists as much as it does the stars.
I only sign a talent when I can see at least 5 years ahead.
If I can't see beyond the present moment, I smile and wave.
Don't sign someone just cos you enjoy what you hear now, ask yourself, what is the future of what I'm experiencing and can I build on it.
Dear Talent Manager,
Listen to your artist(s).
No matter what your plans are or how much you think you might know, it is their career, and they have a right to an opinion in the decision-making.
This is the song that started it all.
I heard this song by
@brum3h
and that day, I told myself that I would find this boy and manage him. I waited patiently for a year before it finally happened, and I haven't regretted it. He is worth it
A crate of chilled malt for you.
I had a conversation with a booking agent at Babel XP yesterday, and her complaint was that our music is trending, but they can only book a handful of our artists because the majority can't sing or perform live.
Ever heard of the dj or mc cutting the music midway? It's because you've overstayed your welcome. Best be safe than sorry.
When it is your show or one with like minds, then you can scatter everywhere.
You are welcome!
I'm irritated. 2 irresponsible artists and their manager effed up a brand deal with a fintech and have robbed artists of potential sponsorship deals because the brand no longer wants to work with Nigerian artists.
Millions down the drain.
Abeg why are people like this?
We really need to work on data collection, archiving, and documentation of our music across cultures, styles, etc. in Nigeria, and I don't mean streaming stats.
The absence of data is killing us.
@TheLotaChukwu
🤣🤣 every time my dad was going on a trip he'd make us pack dried pepper in zip lock bags, garri in pillow cases and dried fish (Shawa) in black bags. He said he had to protect his palette.
I am so proud of
@brum3h
This year, he has stepped up on multiple levels and braved impossible situations in the process.
He's currently doing his first Living Room Tour and has been his own sound engineer while performing 2hr sets.
He's a 360 artist and worth the investment.
One of the best things you can do for an emerging artist is train them for their success. This is the stage where you build their musical bones to handle any kind of condition, performance, the media, the skill, the music, and everything in between.
Also, note that what your manager earns is nothing compared to the amount of work put in to get you to where you want to be. They are making sacrifices, so get it together. Because your talent is only taking you places because there's someone making room and opening doors for you
Also, Remember that the key and pitch on a record may not be suitable as a backtrack for live. This is why a lot of naija artists end up 'harmonising' to their own songs on stage. Rehearse on a key that works for you and build your set around it.
Ok I'm done.
Please note, you can't be an APC supporter and be friends with me.
You can't be a champion of tribalism and be friends with me.
Miss me with the BS. This is not the Nigeria we want, this is the Nigeria that is being forced upon us and I leave you supporters of evil to God.
Azanti is one of the only artistes in Naij really doing this Rnb shit. No one has dropped a harder Rnb record than “feel too much” for the last couple of years. The reaction I get from people anytime I play it is always priceless.
So about
@mbaforafrica
as promised.
I was proudly a member of the 2021 cohort and beneficiary of the women's fund.
Prior to this, I had been working in the entertainment for a little over 10 years and had hit a road block
I will never regret the day I chose to manage
@brum3h
He has made every decision I've made regarding him worth it at every single turn.
I pray for the grace, strength and provision to do more because we can do more.
If the show isn't optimised for live, pick 2 songs befitting of the audience, get your back tracks ready and make the best use of the time.
Here's why:
P.s.
Don't forget to add a performance coach into the mix to help you understand your body language, your breathing, stage presence and how to make proper use of the stage.
Ok bye
Collaboration and building together requires commitment and the staying power to not only see things through but also make sacrifices for the collective good. There is no 'i' in team.
As much as we preach about collaboration, we forget that finding people who are willing to commit to these collaborations without hidden agendas can be a chore.
Something as simple as honouring your word seems to be lost on the average Nigerian these days. Sigh...
You need to break down your music for live performance, get a music director and a playback engineer. Then rehearse until you know every single sound on your track.
Every freestyle you see your foreign counterparts do was rehearsed until it became second nature.
1. There's a 99.9% chance that the show will start late. What that means is that all the opening acts will then be rushed to perform because the priority is the headlining act. Your beautiful set list in the mud
You people will come for me now but I will say it as it is.
Wande Coal will always be a melody bender, but this project is not cohesive, and the man needs a songwriter and AnR to help him fix his sound cos it feels like he just attempted different stuff to see which will stick 🥺
2. These events focus on the sound being loud and DJ friendly because most of our Afrobeats artists are professional lipsyncers.
In other words, carry ya backtracks but ensure you use instrumentals so you actually sing on stage. Keep ya guitar at home!
We (Nigerians) are proud people. We value respect and honour.
So if your attitude smells of 'who dem be' and 'na me sabi pass'
The industry will humble you!
It's interesting how a project with good intentions fell apart over greed and entitlement to non-existent funds.
We keep preaching 'collaboration,' but when the chips are down, very few are willing to dig in their heels and work together for the collective good.
If you can't create the EPK yourself, pay someone to do it.
If you need to pay someone to do it for you (you can hit me up and my team will handle it)
Selah
3. Be prepared for the off chance that there will be technical issues. Send your music ahead via email, carry a flash drive, and also have the music on your phone to avoid stories that touch the heart.
When people laugh at my interest in Indian Cinema, I shake my head. I dey do research, their industry is light years ahead of ours, and y'all are laughing in ignorance.
Bruh, they have just unlocked another level of excellence
The moment we stop gatekeeping in our industry, the growth will be exponential.
Seeing resources being placed in the hands of people who don't know what to do with it is annoying.
We are trending globally, now is the time to invest in the ones that will take us forward. Sigh
Now, this is not to scare you. It is simply a reminder, yet again, that talent is not and will never be enough. Relationship management and general good behaviour are a must.
Please ehn, there is no such thing as afro rnb, afro hiphop, afro rock. RnB is RnB, Hiphop is hip-hop, rock is rock, and you get my drift. Find your genre. It doesn't limit you. It simply identifies your core. There will always be room to evolve, experiment, and explore.
#Selah
Omo, it's not easy being a Nigerian living in Nigeria, let alone being a Nigerian with a dream, living in Nigeria. The stakes are gigantic, and the obstacles are mammoth sized, but somehow, we persevere.
Major shout out to everyone putting in the work!
Who said women can't work together in the entertainment space?
The loudest and most efficient voices in my circle are women, and we are focused. It's been a fun and productive ride.
The collective intuition and multi-tasking skills are absolutely insane.
When you are pitching yourself for opportunities or to the media, they require information, and your EPK will speak the English for you.
E jor, no sending of bios written in whatsapp chats or body of mail.
I will never let the behaviour of a few stop me from doing what I have always done, open as many doors as I can for the people I believe in.
I'm grateful for my journey so far and all the amazing people I've met on the way.
Here's to doing more...
@mbaforafrica
is the industry baptism that every upcoming music business practitioner needs to embrace. It will wash you clean of the fantasies and immerse you in the reality of the African Music industry.
Come and be 'washed' by the wisdom of
@GodwinTom
lol
#MBAForAfrica22
And tagged as 'alternative'.
The RnB, Soul and Neo Soul kids, coined alté cos they needed an identity, a place to belong.
Now, we're stuck with afro this and that.
I beg una, afrobeats has done great, but now it has also suffocated the existence of genres.
I'm thankful for the gift of music.
For my voice, my ear, and my heart of sound.
And it is a privilege to share and work with amazing talent for a living.
Happy World Music Day, everyone
There's a difference between being firm and being rude.
Effective communication comes with mutual respect, be it in business or personal relationships.
I love cavemen o but once they are done touring, I think they need to take a break and enter their 'cave' to create new music that is as good as or better than their first project 'Roots'.
It is time
P.s. they should take other creatives into the cave to help.
#Selah
I only manage talent. I genuinely believe in, and
@brum3h
is one of them.
I'm listening to the project we've been sitting for a while, it feels like I'm experiencing it for the first time.
Truly Timeless music.
Have you listened to You Don't Want Me?
Happy Sunday, everyone.
I didn't expect this thread to blow up like this, and my DM's are full. For everyone who has asked for my help to manage or guide them through industry, my gift and response is please sign up for
@mbaforafrica
It's the place to find all your answers.
Had a very enlightening conversation with
@The_Orhma
Look, there are people who say they are AnR's, and there are people who are the real deal.
@The_Orhma
is the real deal. Take it from me.
Omo, I just realised after all the thank you messages I got this weekend that I got a lot of people to sign up for
@mbaforafrica
last year.
It's good to pay it forward, MBA is a great foundation for anyone trying to navigate this industry.
Well done everyone and congratulations