Indepth – Blueprint of success
How can local artists climb that ladder? ORIGINALITY counts for so MUCH MORE.
In September of 2013, City Press broke a story of how three of South Africa’s biggest music stars had fallen on hard times and were homeless as a result. Blondie Makhene, Pitch Black Afro and Stitch, who coined it at the zenith of their careers, were now bankrupt, pinning their hopes on a musician-led charity organisation. Makhene, who sold thousands of albums and thrilled people at numerous festivals with his revolutionary songs, was living at his mother’s house in Soweto after financial troubles forced him to sell his own place.
Pitch Black Afro, who rocked the music industry with his platinum-selling album Styling Gel, was hopping from one pad to another in the relatively seedy suburb of Berea in Joburg, practically homeless. Stitch, too, was essentially squatting. The kwaito sensation, who dazzled fans with his album King of Digong, was staying at his mother’s house in Kagiso. Far from an exception to the rule, the three were merely the latest on a long list of succesful artists who’d fallen on hard times in the latter years of their music careers.
Senyaka Kekana is another legend who died poor. His family had reportedly asked just about anyone for donations to be able to give him a proper burial. Then there was the legendary Simon ‘Mahlathini’ Nkabinde, said to have had only a few rands to his name when he died. The only property he owned was a three-room house. Hugh Masekela once said Mahlathini was so poor he did not even own a bicycle.
WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?
Swapping to the other side of popular SA music, take a look at artists like Theuns Jordaaan. The Afrikaans artist’s latest album Vreemde Stad sold 210 000 copies. Considering that each CD sold for R99, as an artist he received a mere R8,33 from each CD, which adds up to earning of R1 749 300. The biggest chunk of that R99 price tag paid to a local retailer, with the music label, printing costs, distribution, and vat accounting for the rest of the money.
It’s almost heartbreaking that an artist can only collect R8,33 cents from album’s sales as they represent the main income stream for artists, and to see how small their share of the earning can be almost categorically explains why many of our favourites have died paupers.
Raphael Benza, founder of the boutique full-service music entertainment agency Vth Season, whose agency houses formidable artists like AKA, disputes these Jordaan figures – or, at the least, has reservations about whether an artist would receive such a small stake off his talent. Either way, Benza puts most of the blame on the artist for their ultimate demise after coining it big at the height of their careers. “There are many reasons for artists having to die poor, but the most common would be mismanagement of funds and the syndrome of being and feeling invincible at the peak of their careers.
“This period of invincibility, coupled with bad advice from the hangers-on that surround them during it, could render the artists to feel that their position is eternal. The fame, glory and attention blinds the artist to saving for a rainy day.”
Five-time South African hip hop award winner, Gigi Lamayne, disagrees. She places the blame squarely on the powerful institutions to which artists are attached to, almost as slaves for the enrichment of the institutions. “A lack of empowerment, knowledge, representation, and bargaining power is to blame. This is also because there are no structures in place which legitimately and honestly empower the artist to become the leader of their craft and product. Artists are treated as slaves who’ll plough with their creative tools only for powerful organisations to reap the returns and only feed them the leftovers of their harvest.”
It’s true that there are indeed a lot of people involved in music and the process of making and selling an album that the revenue pie has always had to be sliced to feed too many players. There are the record labels, managers, music producers, sound engineers, music promoters, music agents, music PR, etc.Heather McDonald, of TheBalance. com, explains the process well. At a very basic level, you have record labels who make money by selling records. Managers, on the other hand, receive a pre-agreed percentage of the income from the artists they work with. Sometimes, musicians pay managers a salary as well – this works like a retainer, ensuring the manager doesn’t work with any other artists. Then you have record producers who may receive a salary if they are tied to a specific studio, or paid on a per project basis if they freelance. Another important part of a music producer’s pay can be points, which allow producers to share in the royalties from music they produce. Then there are sound engineers who mostly get paid on a per project basis – this can be a one night deal, or they may go on the road with an artist and do sound for a whole tour. Engineers who work with a particular venue exclusively are likely to receive an hourly wage. There are then promoters, who make money on ticket sales for the gigs they promote. Agents work with promoters and usually take a pre-agreed percentage of the fees for the shows they arrange for musicians. In other words, if an agent negotiates a fee with a promoter for a band they represent to be paid R500 for playing a show, the agent takes a cut of that R500. Finally there’s music PR. Whether radio plugging or conducting press campaigns, music PR companies get paid on a campaign basis. They will negotiate a flat rate for working a release or tour, and that fee will usually cover a set amount of time for the company to promote the product or tour. PR companies may also get bonuses for successful campaigns and reaching certain thresholds – for instance, a bonus if the album sells a certain number of copies. The music pie can be sliced so many ways. Obviously there are lots of other ways to make money in the music business, which, you may point out, means more ways for others to benefit. “There has been a decline of CD sales over the past three years, averaging at 30 percent, making it almost impossible for many artists to reach gold and platinum,” says Nhlanhla Sibisi of The Recording Industry of SA (RiSA). Usually, selling 25000 or 50 000 album copies would give a South African artist gold or platinum status, but the slump in CD sales has prompted a downgrade to 15 000 and 30 000 for golf and platinum respectively.
The downward trend has hit retailers hard. Shops such as Look and Listen and Musica have scaled down on their number of stores, while Reliable Music Warehouse has shut its doors.
No one has been hit harder by these drops in numbers more than the artists themselves. Going gold by selling 15 000 copies will only pocket you R124 950 if you’re collecting R8,33 per album. Given that artists release an average of one album per year (and that’s the hard working ones), making R124 950 per annum as a gold selling artist is almost a betrayal to their craft. It’s one of the main reasons why musicians die poor.
“This isn’t only a South African problem, it’s actually a global issue. Artists now, more than ever, need to find innovative ways of marketing themselves differently,” said popular artist, DJ Oscar ‘Oskido’ Mdlongwa in one interview.
HOW CAN NEW MONEY BE MADE?
In South Africa, music distribution outlets such as iTunes have not taken off as successfully as other parts of the world. What this means is that the only way to make money as a musician in SA is to perform live shows, sell merchandise or, as bands like the Parlotones, and Desmond and the Tutus have done, partner up with a brand and let them use your name and music to promote their products for a few months. “Thankfully there have been other sales platforms as digital (streaming and downloads), RBTs (ringback tones and caller tunes), vinyl sales, and syncs for digital usage that have replaced the decline in sales from physical CD copies,” Benza says.
Ultimately, what makes artists richer are their own innovative ideas on how to get their music to consumers and how to convert that into rands and cents.
In the US, the exceptionally talented hip-hop artist Nipsey Husle turned his back on his former label Epic Records to establish his own company All Money In, citing lack of creative freedom and exploitation. Three years later, in 2013, Nipsey released a free-for-download mixtape called Crenshaw. He then made a limited edition of 1 000 CDs of the album, selling each for $100 (R1 300). They sold out in 24 hours, with Jay Z buying up 100 copies. Five years later, and the epically astute Nipsey is worth over $5 million (R80 million) and owns multiple properties and all kinds of luxury vehicles. He’s even dating one of the most beautiful girls in Hollywood, Lauren London.
Using a remarkable foresight and understanding of human psychology, Nipsey designed a blueprint of success outside the mainstream which would be followed by artists in the US and across the world.
Benza is convinced that music labels and their owners are constantly adapting to flourish. “Record companies like TS Records and Kalawa continue to produce music and aspire to bigger things. Solistic is doing well, and Sheer Music has morphed into a major publishing player in Africa.” Yet even this positive sentiment is sullied by the realisation that some of these recording companies are a shadow of what they use to be. Adapting to a fast-changing world and its consumers is not easy.
The low share on album sales by artists, lack of creative freedom, and the obvious exploitations, have given way to an almost exponential rise in independent artists, making many local musicians not only independent of the labels (and all the players in the music pie this includes) but independently wealthy. Don’t be fooled though, this remains a tough road to trod. In an averagesized industry many South African musicians depend on record labels to help them devise a 360-degree revenue stream – that includes publishing, live performance, image, master recording and the likes, where the labels carry the risk for the artist. Going independent puts you out on a limb all by yourself.
ARE INDEPENDENT ARTISTS COINING IT?
There’s a new kid in town – indie labels. The major brands will soon be challenged by the independent labels who remain closer to the grass roots and who also maintain
a genuine reflection of music on the local scene, says Lamayne. Die Antwoord, the controversial counterculture Afrikaans rap group, is said to have a net worth of R56 million and a yearly revenue of R8Million according to SA Hip Hop Magazine. After briefly signing with Interscope Records, 2011 saw the pair founding a label of their own in Zef Recordz. On it, they released their second and third studio albums, Ten$Ion (2012) and
Donker Mag (2014). They released their fourth album, Mount Ninji and
da Nice Time Kid, in 2016. Cassper Nyovest is another local artist who came into the game and made a huge impact in a short space of time. The rapper’s also an independent artist who has toured the continent and has had shows in England and the United States. Endorsement deals are also adding to his coffers – SA Music Hip Hop says he’s worth around R3.2 million. In 2015 Cassper signed the biggest deal the music industry has ever seen with MTN and he has just signed a deal with Ciroc Vodka for which he is not altogether keen to disclose the figures.
Then there’s AKA, who has been in the game since he was a teenager but only started making real money when he released his debut album as AKA, Alter Ego. In October 2016 he announced his departure from his label, and warned former label mates Yanga Ntshakaza, Big Star Johnson, and Tresor to have personal accountants check the record label’s financial statements. He’s since made amends with his label but the theme of exploitation reared its ugly head nonetheless. AKA has had a number of endorsement deals and is said to be worth R4,8 million, but again this is disputed.
Interestingly, when multiple artists were asked what a moneymaking sound in SA is, Afrikaans music was mentioned almost unanimously. “Dance music will always be a winner, but as evidenced by last year’s top selling album by Riana Nel, good, old-fashioned, wholesome music is still far more popular,” says musician Lira. Indeed, the commercialised Afrikaans music market remains one of the most economically powerful, and the fact that Skouspel have partnered with Big Concerts to sell the FNB Stadium is a testament to their strength.
Even so, there are many more avenues for creating revenue than there have been in the past. Musicians can make money on Youtube, through radio play, endorsements and sync deals. It’s not that stats don’t count, it’s just that originality counts for so much more.
One artist who has utilised every avenue possible to reach unimaginable levels in success is the exceptionally talented Black Coffee.
SOUTH AFRICANS ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE
Black Coffee may be the biggest South African on the International scene now, but he certainly follows in the footsteps of some of the greatest exports of South African music. At 75 years old, South Africa’s biggest player on the international music scene, Hugh Masekela, spends most of the year on international projects and touring the world. In July 2016, he was awarded an honourary doctorate in music by the University of York, he is currently an artist in residence at Howard University in Washington DC and he will open the South African Festival at Carnegie Hall in October before embarking on a major European tour. ‘Bra Hugh’, as he’s known, was also nominated for a Grammy in 2012 and has recently collaborated with artists such as Manu Dibango, Paul Simon, Ziggy Marley and Dave Matthews.
There is a long line of local artists who have gone international, and their global success enduring. The Soil recently performed for the Queen of England, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo are four-time Grammy winners. The group has been around for more than 50 years now. They are South Africa’s most prolific recording artists, with their releases receiving gold and platinum disc honours. The group has now become a mobile academy, teaching people about South Africa and its culture.
Twenty-eight-year-old and twotime SAMA nominee Bongeziwe Mabandla sings Afro-folk, mainly in Xhosa, and is having a very successful year overseas. He has toured Japan and Korea on the back of the Japanese release of his album Umlilo. Prior to that he performed in Germany, Canada, Spain and France, where he also reached second place in the Radio France Internationale Discoveries award in 2011.
IS HLAUDISM PAYING DIVIDENDS?
The overseas market has in many ways been a recourse for our artists when not making money locally, a fact that may have driven Hlaudi Motsoeneng to introduce the 90% local content rule for all SABC radio stations in order to boost income for local artists.
Nick Hamman, 5FM radio presenter and producer, thinks there hasn’t been a more exciting time to be in the South African music scene than today. His sentiments are echoed by Wynand Myburgh, a member of Fokofpolisiekar, Van Coke Kartel and the manager of Jack Parow. Myburgh is of the view that the country has produced highly successful rock bands, created new genres like kwaito and more recently, seen a massive explosion in hip hop. “From a creative point of view, I think our industry is on an all-time high,” he says.
While Motsoeneng’s aim was to raise the profile of South African artists and put money in their pockets,
TimesLIVE has said they had it on good authority that 5FM and Metro FM management brought up the 90% local rule as being a major challenge and, as a result of the rule, have seen a massive drop in advertising and listenership. It seems that instead of bringing money in the pockets of local artists, the rule has done the opposite – it resulted in dwindling audience figures and resulting in catastrophic effects on radio revenues.
Ultimately, what makes artists richer are their own innovative and daring ideas on how to get their music to consumers and how to convert that into rands and cents. Nothing beats hard work and the willingness to go the extra mile. There are artists who are coining, proving it’s possible.
“THIS ISN’T ONLY A SOUTH AFRICAN PROBLEM, IT’S ACTUALLY A GLOBAL ISSUE.”