Designer Musicians

Why is it so hard for South Africans to imagine a South African artist on the same level as an international artist? And why are they only credible in their own country once they've made it internationally? This seems to be the attitude of a lot of South Africans and, while it is slowly changing, there is a long way to go and a lot of frustrated artists are having to give up on their dream while people slowly make up their minds. They rely on fans to keep their dreams alive and I believe it's largely due to complacency among the fans, that artists are not succeeding. It is certainly not due to a lack of passion among the artists themselves.

South African musicians are among the hardest workers in the world. Take, for example, THIS well known SA musician: A typical weekend in her life includes the following: Friday night she will have a gig. She will supply the sound system, which means she has to load her car with it, drive to the venue, set it up and soundcheck, and then perform for 4 hours. At midnight she will pack up the sound system, get back in her car and drive home. The following morning she will be up at 5am to prepare for her first gig of the day at 7.30am. She again has to set up her own sound and performs for about 3 or 4 hours, then she will pack up the sound system and drive to her next gig. This process is generally repeated 3 times on a Saturday. Sunday involves another 3 and her day starts at 5am again. Let's not forget that a musician has to look ready for the stage as well so hair and makeup and outfits must be sorted, and in place, before leaving for the gig. That means preparation usually begins about 3 hours before it's time to leave for the gig.

To most people this may sound relatively easy, although I'm not sure how the word "easy" could fit into that schedule because I have left a few points out. For example, during those 4 hours of her show, she will be playing anywhere from 3 to 8 instruments while she is adding backing vocals to the show AND operating the sound desk which is conveniently placed behind her on stage. She will also have to dance, smile and ENTERTAIN the audience so that they don't feel neglected by her. (Oddly enough, when a background musician is playing, people ignore them. However, if they should STOP playing for any reason, they will suddenly notice and complain about it!) I don't think anyone, who isn't a musician, can fully understand how exhausting it is to give of your best musically, physically and emotionally, during a show. Try holding a smile in place for 4 hours! The smile doesn't leave when you take a break from the stage. A musician will still have to maintain the smile while an audience member tries to jump onstage and sing into the microphone, or drunkenly tries to grab them to dance, or persistently requests Hotel California when the musician is obviously performing their original songs and NOT cover songs. She will often not get fed for those 4 hours and she will have to pay for her own drinks, including water. The smile still stays in place while she packs away her sound system and carries 15kg speakers to her car while everyone sits around watching her. She gets no days off, because if she's not gigging, she's rehearsing for gigs, and if she's not rehearsing, she's teaching music, and if she's not teaching, she's catching up on admin or meeting prospective clients. Her hours start at between 4 or 5am and end around 2am if she's lucky.

Don't get me wrong. We love what we do and that's why we do it. But there comes a point in every musician's career where they have to ask themselves why? We've all asked that question. Why are we breaking our backs for very little appreciation? Did I mention that this musician has several albums behind her name? She has directed and produced a lot of the shows that you have paid good money to go and watch. And yet the only names in lights are a select few who had enough money behind them to market their product and actually put on the show. Why are there so few of them when South Africa is literally bursting at the seams with talent?

How many of you have joined an artist's Facebook fan page? How many of those fan pages belong to South African artists? If you can say several, good for you! Now, how many of the gigs have you supported, that that artist has advertised on Facebook? Facebook has been a saving grace for so many bands and musicians who ordinarily would have had no marketing means at their disposal. There is very seldom a budget for that. The problem is that Facebook is an ONLINE community and it appears that many people who support a musician online, seldom support them in real life. Without that support, it is almost impossible to put on a show. No venues will pay a guaranteed fee to an artist. The artist must rely on a certain percentage of the door fee. It's not too difficult to work out the earnings of any artist, based on the venue and ticket price. If a venue seats 60 people, and the tickets are R50 each, that is a door taking of R3000 (if all tickets are sold) 70% of that is R2100. Take off the sound hire for a show, let's be optimistic and make that R1200. You are left with R900. If you do the show with a band, each member will demand a minimum fee of R1000. Even with one extra musician, you will not break even.

Once you do the math, it isn't worth their while to do shows unless you are guaranteed of a sell out. And there are no guarantees. Is it any wonder that even artists with big names in the industry are forced to supplement their income some other way? Or even worse, to just give up. I could take it even further. A minimum price to record an album might be R30 000, if you're lucky. After that, a photo shoot must be done for the album cover, the cover needs designing, it needs to be printed and only then can you start selling it. But, if you aren't signed to a distributor, you can only really sell your albums at gigs and that brings us full circle to the previous paragraph! Factor in that South African music is at the bottom of a music buyer's list unless your music is kwaito or afrikaans. It doesn't look promising for SA musicians, judging from this post...

But...

It can be. And the power is in your hands. The majority of people who walk out of a live show say, "I had no idea they were so good. I'm so glad I came. I'm definitely going to support them from now on." All it takes is that one step. GO to one show. If it's not your flavour, at least you know. But chances are good that you will thoroughly enjoy it and you will leave feeling far more motivated to go to the next show, and the next show, because you KNOW it's a guaranteed winner and you know you will leave feeling good. The added advantage is that the artists and musicians will feel good because they were supported AND they made enough money to cover their costs and pay some bills. There is nothing like a sense of achievement to buoy your spirits and push you harder to succeed!

The bottom line, is without fans and supporters, musicans have nothing. We can't sing to our lounge walls forever! It's the high from being onstage that we crave. The energy from an audience is what keeps us going. We have stories to tell and we have a burning desire to tell them. And it's people in seats that make it financially worthwhile for us. What good is a show, without an audience?

Next time you receive an invite to a live music show, take a chance and go. Don't just click on "maybe attending" and then forget about it. That artist is watching the amount of guests attending or "maybe attending", sitting on the edge of their seats, wondering if they will have to cancel the show, or if those making promises will actually deliver on them. Make music a priority in your life. It's easy to do that when you try and imagine your life without it! Sure, maybe you'd rather go and see Pink when she's here. Who wouldn't? But the reality is that will happen once every few years, besides the fact that it will cost you a fortune. While you're waiting for Pink, why not spend R50 or R70 here and there and support an artist right on your doorstep that you've always admired but never seen live? Musicians lives are loaded with empty promises. We become so accustomed to smiling and saying thank you, knowing it probably won't materialise. Surprise us by following through. You'll be overwhelmed by the gratitude you receive.

Everytime an artist performs live, they are offering a piece of their heart and soul to you. It takes a brave person to sing about their innermost thoughts, especially if they are not convinced that you really want to listen, and believe me when I tell you that, even the most successful artist will always need convincing now and then. You may be paying to hear their stories, but the gift they are giving you in return is something irreplaceable and incomparable because it is entirely unique. It's the same reason you would buy designer clothes and we seldom think twice before spending THAT money.

Looking at it from that viewpoint, maybe it's time to find your own designer musician?