LESSONS WE CAN LEARN ABOUT THE LIFE AND TIMES OF P-JAY! In the wake of the sad and untimely demise of our local artist brother and friend P-jay,i felt sad to hear the account of his mother, that had less than flaterring words to say about the Zambian Music industry. In an interview i saw on muvi Tv,she said her son had wrong friends in the entertainment industry that used him for their gain and she bitterly lamented that he died a poor artist that had no house or vehicles to his name and was a dependant that lived in her house despite P-jay having a rap sheet of hit singles and albums that are so popular amongst millions of youths throughout the country. So who really is or was to blame for P- jays inability to create wealth? Was it himself or the Music Industry as his mother put it? To start with attempting to answer that question,i think it is first important to acknowledge and respect the talent that God gave to P- jay,which ofcorse was an amazing voice to sing,and with his genius to compose music,he had the most vital ingredients of what it took to be a successful artist. However,ingredients do not prepare cakes or cook meals,it is the people with the knowledge to bake or cook that do so! So if theres anyone to question about their failure to utilise their talents in this scenario,i think it is no one other than the artists themselves. Making music is one thing,but then marketing and distributing it with an intent to make the most out of it is another thing and that is were the business side of the music business comes to play as a factor of ones success or failure. With that in mind,maybe that is when we can attempt to question the Zambian Music Industry that has been demonised for using and expoliting musicians,as P-jays mother insinuated. I personally do not think the local music industry expoilts anyone because in the first place,we have a very fickle music industry in the country that conisits of very few players who again have not much power to make artists successful! The first player in the industry are the recording labels. But Sadly as a country,we have very few labels that can market and distribute an artists music,whilst ensuring that they pay these artists advances to financially keep themeslves afloat. That is why many of our artists invirably take it upon themselves to just basically find their own resources to pay music producers for beats and also pay for their own studio time to record their albums,which does not necessarily gurantee success in the music business. So in a nutshell,it is safe to say that we have a weak Music Industry and many of our local artists are nothing but free agents that have no support system to sustain their careers and ensure any real success besides their music being played in nightclubs and radio stations,were they again fail to make any serious money out of. SELF EVALUATION QUESTIONS EVERY ARTIST SHOULD ASK THEMSELVES! QUESTION 1; Does having your Music being played in clubs and radio stations translate to success? No! But intrestingly,some artists are in the industry just to be heard! And if that is the case for some of our artists,that is a sad damn shame! However,maybe that is as far as their dreams go,so i cant really knock the hustle of a person that wants to use his or her talents soley to be famous. But if an artist intends to make a living out of his/her talent,then such a person needs take their career alot more seriously and make the most out of it if they are to be comfortable and successful at what they do for a living. QUESTION 2; In the light of the shambolic music Industry we have in Zambia,it is still possible for independent artists to make it in the music business? YES QUESTION 3; So what does it take to make it in the Zambian music business? 1-Find a good promoter to push your product across the continent via MTV africa,Trace Tv and the numerous Nigerian Music channels on our satellite servi es around the continet.And i emphasise on Nigeria mostly because of the huge market in Nigeria where you will eventually have to travel to,to perfrom your music and make money off, for your local and International tours to be successful in. 2-Network with people in the business world i.e.Telecomunications and Advertising agencies that you can exploit to market yourself as a brand that can help push their products,which inturn puts more money in your pockets. 3- Ensure that you utilise live instruments in your recordings so that you produce music that a live band can play at your music gigs. People are more attracted to live instrumentation when they attend concerts,rather than artists that mime off pre-recorded beats. 4-Get professional guidance from good Video directors to shoot your videos,so that they give your vidoes the appeal for people to want to download. 5-Utilise social media to interact with fans and give them an opportunity to download your music and videos that can earn you some money,everytime your videos or music is downloaded by your fans. We live in a digital age and merely selling records from music stores or out of the trunk of your car will not get you the much deserved coverage and earnings that millions of people that are exposed to your music will give you. So the internet should be your greatest launch pad for your endevours. 5-Invest your earnings in immovable propertys and/or diversify yourbusiness portifolio to creating wealth in ventures outside the music business,for as we all know,our talents and energy fade with time,so it is imperative for artists to look at doing things that they can fall back on when their careers stall. I have a strong belief that if Artists like P-jay did atleast 3 of the 5 points above,his mother would not be saying what she had to say about the music Industry for we the artists are a business in the industry,so lets get busy and serious about the potential energy of our talents as we use them as a lynchpin for our scuccess in life. RIP P-Jay!
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 07:39:41 +0000
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