Why Being You Matters

Everyday brand new music is released worldwide. Every single

country in the world has armies of artists releasing brand new

"hits". Think about it for a second, that's every single country in

the world. Each country has both aspiring and established

musicians. That's millions of artists with even more millions of

brand new songs every single day. There are 195 countries in

the world today, this total comprises 193 countries that are

member states of the United Nations and 2 countries that are

non-member observer states: the Holy See and the State of

Palestine. With the current world population estimated at over 7

billion it is estimated that there are at least 700 000 musicians

working professionally, this number excludes aspiring musicians

or artists who are not signed to an established record label or

distribution company. So let's put our ducks in a row. There are

at least 700 000 professional musicians in the world with the

ability to not only make a hit song but the capacity and corporate

backing to market and distribute that "hit song" globally.

That said you must now look at your current situation objectively.

You do not have a global foot print of marketing capital and

influence to make a global debut so how do you get noticed?

Truth be told, without the muscle of big labels it's near impossible

to breakthrough and become a formidable force in any music

environment, be it local or international.

Take for example you have a wildly infectious song, everyone

who hears it loves it. What is your reach if you are literally

passing the song from one WhatsApp group to another? That

distribution format is limited and in most cases it's near impossible to monetise. Let's say again you also manage to

produce a very entertaining video for your "WhatsApp hit song"

– everyone who sees this video loves it again and your

WhatsApp groups are full of your praises – what now?

Remember here that you have deliberately arrested your ability

to reach beyond your WhatsApp groups. Meanwhile, that odd

700 000 professionals are not only releasing marvellously catchy

tunes but they are also making sure through their record labels

and distribution companies that the music and music videos can

reach a worldwide audience.

So what am I saying here? At the beginning I said "being you

matters" it does, but I'm sure the title may have been misleading.

I'm not saying "being you" means doing things by yourself, being

true and committed to limited means of distribution, being

stubborn and refusing to consider any ideas other than your own.

No! "Being you" means be honest about who you truly are. You

are just an aspiring musician. It matters to acknowledge that

early on so that you do not end up needlessly frustrated and

angry in the end. It matters that you quickly become aware of

how far you can "push" your music without any assistance from

others. If all you can do with your hit song or video is share it on

WhatsApp then perhaps involving other platforms in a

professional way to take your content further is ideal.

Recently I saw an advert on MTV Base asking for music video

submissions, when I saw it I immediately thought of all the

WhatsApp kings trending in WhatsApp groups. Artists whose

incredible talent should be exposed to the world. The

requirements were clear as far as the quality of the video is

concerned and one need only Google Drive or attach a link to

their video to be considered for playlisting. When I saw this I

immediately realised how much it matters to know who you are!

I watch music channels to hear what the latest trends in music

are, which artists or music video is trending. I know I can't get

that information solely from my WhatsApp groups. It matters that I appreciate the limits of those platforms and look elsewhere for

the information I seek. I wondered how many Zimbabwean

artists had seen the MTV Base video promo. How many aspiring

artists were watching MTV Base, Channel O, Trace etc? In that

precise moment I think it mattered. You are remarkable in your

own right and can perhaps justify why you don't need to look

anywhere for guidance with your music career. Think about it for

a second, if you truly appreciated who you are in the much bigger

global music landscape, how small your current foot print is with

your own initiatives, you wouldn't hesitate to get other team

players on board and perhaps open some proverbially closed

doors.

Locally you cannot make a big footprint with your music if you do

not liaise with local stakeholders like music reporters, bloggers,

social influencers, deejays, radio and TV stations. Give those

local players unlimited access to your "hit songs". Everybody in

the music business loves an exclusive. Offer to give them your

music first as this will help build a good professional relationship.

Imagine being able to confidently say that my music will come

out this Friday and be played during this show by this Deejay.

not only will that give you a little bit of peace of mind, knowing

that at least this once your music will be playlisted but such an

arrangements communicates volumes to not only your fans but

to other stakeholders like music promoters (who by the way are

always in the market to spot who is trending next). Having

confidence that there are some stakeholders who you have

already informed and given your project in advance of release

date is the one thing a lot of artists miss out on. A lot of artists

release music today and hope and pray that somehow that music

will spontaneously find itself on playlists on radio or TV. This is

real life. As I said in the beginning, you need to do the ground

work first before releasing your music. Prepare a good quality

Electronic Press Kit (PDF Format), CD artwork, clean MP3 and

a distribution list, then submit your music!