Promoters challenge rising artists
The journey to become a successful artist is usually a challenging experience for aspiring musicians as they have to compete with well-established artists.
Most artistic ventures require high capital outlay with a significant sum of the costs incurred before any revenues can be earned.
In separate interviews with some up-and-coming artists, we learnt the hardships new artists go through with the most prominent being lack of support as music promoters seem to concentrate on established artists. In a vox pop interview, several up-and-coming artists lamented being shunned by sponsors and getting weird responses.
“I approached three renowned promoters, but I got ugly responses. It was derailing,” said Eric Jefferson, who is still struggling to record his three singles.
Another upcoming artist Stunner real name Maxwell Kengele, said the environment is discouraging. He also claimed being sidelined by fellow artists, saying established musicians shun them and demand more when it comes to collaborations.
However, renowned music promoter Grey Samani says quality matters when deciding on which artist to pick.
“People have to appreciate their music on the ground first. You cannot just pick an artist. Those are some of the factors promoters consider before signing an artist. These rising artists need to work hard to earn support,” said Semani, who doubles as a producer and promoter at Grec Studios in Chilobwe Township, Blantyre.
While agreeing on the need to support up-and-coming artists, five other promoters we spoke to challenged the new voices to demonstrate their quality first. They argued that music promotion is business, hence they only invest where they feel they will harvest.
The rebranding of Musicians Association of Malawi (MAM) to Musicians Union of Malawi (MUM) three years ago gave hope for upcoming artists. However, there is still little on the ground.
In an interview MUM president the Reverend Chimwemwe Mhango acknowledged the challenges faced by newcomers. He, however, attributes the situation to high competition and the commercialisation of music projects.
“We are living in difficult times and it’s not easy to have returns from music projects. This is why promoters are shunning newcomers. Competition is high and there is piracy. So, it is never easy,” he said.
Mhango, however, appealed to promoters to support rising artists and asked established artists to promote young talent. n
