The state of the music industry: incompetence in the industry

Grammy award nominee R&B singer Ciara was scheduled to perform at the Maloof money cup benefit concert on the 29^th of September 2012 at Kimberley monster mob in South Africa and could not finish her performance because of management and technical issues. This was not the first time an audience has not been told of such incidents. Last year (2011) Trey Songs was supposed to perform at a club in Johannesburg but could not make an appearance because of a conflict he had with the communication department at Canoc productions which is a very big entertainment company in South Africa. Where does this ill service delivery and communication error come from, many may ask that question but the answer will still remain transparent as South Africa’s music industry is in desperate need of help.(http://www.ciarafever.com/category/live-performance/)

(R&B singer and actress Ciara poses before a photo shoot.image source: songonlyrics.com)

PR and business in the music industry (http://www.mio.co.za/article/pr-2011-06-22)

As issues like piracy still haunts SA musicians the industry has become cluttered with corporate copyright and business in PR. Strategic business function is one of the fundamental sources of the guidelines of a successful public relations plan. With this being said PR in the SA music industry is placed under business and the two are classified as one (which is wrong). The PRP’s in control of the label/artist are publicists. The problem begins when we have managers and publicists who do not take the responsibility of creating and maintaining their client’s images. The Ciara incident is a perfect example of how an events/PR company can communicate false messages to the public without consulting with the artist’s agent or manager. It’s a mistake that has been done countless times in the music industry. A similar example is the relationship that publicist have with journalists in South Africa is very uncertain because an artist can win an award and still be shown in negative light on a newspaper later that week.

(a plain doll holding up a sign which is a metaphor for what Sa musicians feel about their managers.image source:mio.co.za

 Media coverage on South African musicians (http://www.journalism.co.za/index.php/news-and-insight/insight/166-media-freedom3/2027-sa-musicians-needled-by-broadcasters.html  

South Africa is primarily 18 years old in democracy and has seen talent pop up from all corners of the country. The sad thing is that media coverage on local artists is still lacking. Record labels in South Africa still can not apply methods to help promote their artists. The media sector also finds it more rewarding to advertise international artists more than they show local artists. It is a stage where the general public has to take a stand and purchase music from their favourite musicians so that they can help local artists gain respect and coverage they deserve by adding value to their lively hood.