Management and Musicians - Ignorance or Bliss?

On December 6, an article was published about the Parlotones in a bitter battle with their former manager Raphael Domalik. The band signed a contract where they would receive a salary and give up ownership of the music under that agreement. Many would say that this is a typical case of ignorant musicians who lack an understanding of the value of copyright.

Gareth Cliff said, "I don't care about copyright anymore. People have stolen my ideas but I'm not worried because my currency is based on good content." As it is difficult to generate a stable income in the music industry, it is understandable why the Parlotones opted for trading their music for a salary. Their manager took the risk of investing millions of rands in the band and the Parlotones didn't have to worry about breaking even and making a profit.

Now that the relationship is over and Khan is branching off into a solo project independently, He may have to split himself into an artist, an investor, marketer, business man and administrator. Domalik on the other hand has lost 80% of his revenue as Franie Kotze would say.

Being an artist and having the luxury of having a manager is bliss but ignorance could easily turn that experience into a loss on the part of an artist. It's great that musicians are beginning to manage themselves. However, without a credible team to drive value and success, it may be a lonely long road ahead for many budding creative industry entrepreneurs hoping to make a fortune and become legends.

3rd Africa Century International Writers Conference

On 7 November 2014, 6 top speakers and 22 South African Award Nominees celebrated  contributions made by Africans in the literature fraternity and the fight against colonisation.

The honorable Samia Yaba Nkrumah, executive director of the Kwame Nkrumah Pan African Centre and Chairperson of the Convention Peoples Party in Ghana delivered an inspiring talk about Africa's socio-cultural liberation. 

Considering that Dr Kwame Nkrumah created a blueprint for development in Africa, Dr Zagba Narth Oyortey, the programme director for the conference, advised that any individual that fails to love him/herself, will have limited success. Love of thyself also means love of thy people. It is thus important to make sure that when one embarks on a mission of writing about Africans, that there is no misrepresentation of the African identity. There are constant complaints about media broadcasting incorrect or fabricated facts. 

Morakabe Seakhoa, Managing Director of the Write Associates whose company organised this conference pleaded that, "We want you to write the scripts of our own development from an African perspective." Should you know anyone or organisation that would be interested in taking the Africa Century International Writers Conference and South African Literary Awards to the next level, kindly contact the Write Associates  for more information.

"People need to thoroughly understand racism as a concept in South Africa." Molaodi Wa Sekake, an audience member, commented. He said that currently there is a decolonised version of racism and the body plays a significant part in the enactment of this concept.

Some would wonder what relevance this has with music or IKS Consulting & Promotions. Whether you are in the music industry or no industry, these issues affect all human beings either directly or indirectly and to ignore them would be ignorant and surely to our detriment as a human race. In Dr Oyortey's words, "Our writers penned down the vision for liberation. Artists were at the forefront of that encouragement." Dr Kwame Nkrumah left no less than 15 books as a guideline for decolonisation. Dr Oyortey also added that by ignoring the blueprint created by Nkrumah, "We rob ourselves of reaping the benefits of such blueprints and policies." 

What cause are South African artists at the forefront of, nowadays?