Artists turn to digital platforms

IT’S a singles life for South African artists releasing new music during the lockdown.

With events and launches not possible under the current restrictions, musicians have taken to digital services to release stand-alone tracks. A stop to traditional performances and music launches has created new challenges for artists.

“A digital-only presence is not enough to sustain a ‘core fan’,” said Rob Cowling, general manager for record label Gallo. “Streaming or liking and sharing posts is one thing, but the human connection will always remain important, for example attending live concerts.

“Then there are the costs; not all artists have a proper, functioning home set-up or uncapped wifi capabilities to maintain a solid digital presence from home, and the equipment is expensive.”

With digital as the new benchmark for music distribution, artists have adopted an “all you can eat” model in releasing their offerings.

“Labels and artists prefer to release singles to remain active and relevant for longer periods of time, with constant or regular fan base engagement, as opposed to releasing an entire body of work (where some songs may get ‘lost’ or ‘wasted’),” Cowling explained.

Last week, Cape Town-based Nigerian Afropop artist Nome debuted his latest single, titled Cheque Out, which is available on popular music sites including Spotify and SoundCloud.

“The song is special as I tend to also use this medium to introduce myself and infuse my brand idea,” Nome explained.

For Nome, the goal is not to be absent during the lockdown and continue producing despite the lack of tours and marketing promotions. The independent artist has recognised the importance of releasing music online for maximum reach. “Growing your fan base is key to succeeding and landing deals, and that is one to the things I am currently focused on,” he said.

Meanwhile, some musicians have adapted to the restrictions and are producing accompanying music videos. Acoustic dance music group Rubber Duc released their new single,

Talk About It, launched with a video filmed in each of the group members’ homes.

“The first challenge was that we’d never filmed or edited a music video ourselves,” said group lead singer Nick Jordaan. The band also features musicians Amiel Gopal, Sheldon Sham and Brendan Campbell. “Some of the guys used their phones as cameras and I used our camera that we use for content pieces.” The video is available to view on YouTube.

According to Jordaan, artists have a harder time both producing and promoting music with the lack of traditional platforms due to what he referred to as the “mass-entertainment depression”.

“There’s been a slower bleed of job cuts across multiple industries, but the entertainment industry was hit exceptionally hard right from the start. The near future is very alarming; it will require a lot of innovation and creativity.”

| SUPPLIED AFROPOP artist Nome.