An open letter to the musicians who went before us

An open letter to the musicians who went before us

Re: Stop making music a free commodity

Dear artists who went before us,
First I begin by thanking you very much for all the work you put in getting the main stream masses of this here our Kenya come around to the idea of home grown, home made music. Thank you for the continued war with Radio and TV stations to get Kenyan content on high rotation. Thank you for investing in better videos and such promo material. It would seem we are getting somewhere. It would seem.

Now, onto the little matter of making music free commodity. You ask me how? I tell you how.

The way its meant to work is that fans are supposed to support the career of an artist by buyng the music, the merchandise, the concert tickets, the artists apps and all that good stuff that is the artists and associated with the artist. But look at the scenario right now in this here Kenya. Corporate Kenya as well as Club owners negotiate with artists for their performance fees and most times pay upfront and what may be considered a good amount. They then spend time and MONEY to advertise and host the event which is FREE for the public. Together so far? Stay with me please..Take Musician X. Say I watch him today at the concert Face off where the entry is Ksh one bamba 50, then I watch him in another week at the COE constitution review activation for free, then I watch same artist X at another activation road show event where the cost is a further Ksh FREE. Now, my claim is that im going to all this venues because this is my favourite artist in the world, but I have never needed to pay a penny to see him. So when his album does come out..my mind set is already on FREE. I mean think about this, whatever I don't get on the radio for FREE, I can catch at his gig FOR FREE so in my head my favorite musician in the world= FREE. No thanks to buying his brand new album for Ksh 500. which, by the way, is exactly what it will cost me for a double Gin& Tonic at my favourite club in westlands, where incidentally the entry is FREE and the music that is mostly off my favotites artists portfolio..is a further FREE.

Dear Musicians who went before us, Mainstream music=FREE to the Kenyan audiences. This is not a way to build a sustainable career. This is the short cut to the shortest shelf life of music ever

Dear musicians who went before us, this strategy needs to change. We need you to get into the performing circuit. We need you to organise your own gigs, and put some work into the live act and then charge entrance at the door so that fans can relate you with a worth. We need you to negotiate with event organisers so that you are not on the billing of free shows more than thrice a year. You deserve our support, now make us make that mental connection that reads my favourite musician= VALUE.