Why Musicians Should Own Websites.

I am a girl about the internets...(someone should look into offering valid credentials around that.)

Anyway, while this blog may have begun as a 'group therapy-let's-all-woosa-as-musicians' space, I've decided to add more objectivity to it, and one way is to curate content as I come across it.

Today, we look at this issue of owning your own space on the internet as a musician.(Stop panicking! Breathe in...out...and read on...LOL!)

It's been interesting to find that most musicians,locally and internationally haven't jumped onto this opportunity for many reasons. For instance,as a big hit, there's always content being put out about you, right? So if an interested party does a google search about who you are,plenty is bound to come up and inform adequately. And besides, if I have a facebook fan page and I tweet every now and then, what more do I need, right? 

WRONG!!

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Digital Music Distribution: Are We Willing To Embrace It?

I hope this post will be more of a discussion that yields fruit and proposes a way forth.

 

We have embraced tech in our everyday lives; money transfer, bill payments...and it's made our lives a whole lot easier. There is no shortage of documentation on app developments and competitions, all aimed at tapping into the connectivity and opportunity that the mobile phone has presented. Now, the music industry hasn't been left behind on the tech front, with iTunes Music Store as a benchmark success. And with that has come digital distributors such as TuneCore and CD Baby,SoundCloud and Reverbnation (who recently ventured into the distribution business), AWAL UK and Overtone in South Africa, who distribute to various online music stores, among them iTunes. 

In the US, digital distribution seems to have been embraced and is the success claim for many an artiste, primarily via iTunes downloads.

Whilst these services are accessible to any music lover, they aren't necessarily customized for our market(ie Africa). Reverbnation,for instance, is a platform that most musicians have embraced, and use to create a basic online profile,(call it the Facebook for musicians...lol). Tunecore delivers music to the Nokia store,whose African reach is limited to South Africa.

Physical CDs acquisition tends to be another logistical nightmare altogether, and in this digital era, it may not be the most convenient option,not in a world where a song becomes a hit overnight, yet shipping isn't as easy.

That leaves torrents as the only other option for us to acquire music from our favourite 'international' artists. True?

Now, closer home. I'm yet to come across a digital content distributor operating across the continent.(Massive opportunity if done well....could do a lot to curb piracy, and some of us can get decent salaries off our craft/vocation...) I've had the pleasure of sitting in on brainstorming sessions on digital content (primarily music) distribution proposals. Here in Kenya, two startups: PewaHewa and Hewa have proposed a solution to digital distribution. Yet to fully understand how Hewa works, but PewaHewa makes use of MPESA,Airtel Money and YuCash to purchase one's favourite music, upon which a link to the song(s) is sent to your email address. 

 

Pewa Hewa
        

 

  
Hewa
   

Has Africa been left behind on the music and tech front?

As an artist, this novelty sounds very appealing. It reduces the headache of mass producing CDs, of smooching retailers to carry your music and pay you in good time, or having to chase every Akamba bus to deliver the CD to an eager fan in Mombasa or Kakamega as a last resort. DIY(Do It Yourself) Music Distribution is something many musicians are having to look into because the 'systems' in place seem to do nothing more than abuse our art.

All the tech-savvy people I know can go on and on about apps developed to meet many other needs, but when it comes to music, it's a whole other story. Having recently released an album, and (thankfully) there being a demand for it across the city,country and even continent(woohoo!), we are almost spending sleepless nights trying to figure out how to satiate the urgency with which the album is requested! The Ma3 album for instance, is available on iTunes and Amazon for those outside Africa. Yet the interesting thing is that people want the physical copy of the album. While that is all good, (definitely a good dilemma)...it's a logistical nightmare. We put the album online for everyone to listen (hoping that come the time to sell, digital would be the primary preference). But not so the case! Make no mistake, we are very grateful that the product we've put out there is that desirable! 

The question begs, are we, as musicians and music lovers, willing to embrace to embrace technology's solutions to the problem at hand? As a musician, I have a product to get out to the market. As a music consumer, I want to get access to the product as soon as possible, and to my satisfaction. Basic supply and demand chain? Not so! As it turns out, demand entails tangibility as I'm learning, at least as far as music goes. Fans want autographed copies of records, and it would seem that digital distribution doesn't offer that? 

But what if, as an artist, I put up my album artwork/inlay on my website for free download? 

As a social media evangelist/strategist in the Kenyan music industry, it takes all I've got not to pull out my dreadlocks trying to figure out this quagmire!

 

 

@NiNanjiraNanjira Sambuli

Goodness me!!! there really is no embracing digital music purchase/distribution is there? everyone wants a physical CD copy! woi!

The response(s) to this tweet are the inspiration behind this post/conversation. I'd love nothing more than to ensure that every music lover of the music in my hands gets to it in good time, whether in Mtwapa or Munich! But what I desire even more, is to get this to every fan in the most convenient way possible! This convenience? Digital music distribution.

So the question doth beg? Are we willing to embrace digital music distribution? If so, what do we need to do, as musicians and music lovers? What are the problems that this novelty presents, and what are the possible solutions? For musicians: could digital distribution be a means of curbing piracy by meeting demand in good time? For music lovers: could this be a means of propelling Africa's musical talent onto the world platform? We have propelled the innovation behind some of our most treasured applications/tech startups, why should we not do it for our art?

 

Beba Beba: Ma3

 

 

I happen to be part of this awesome band called Ma3. Why Ma3? Well, I could give a profound, 'politically correct response'...but we borrowed the name off the ubiqituous and often inescapable public means of transport in Kenya...All across Africa, Ma3s-whatever name they have- are part of what defines present-day culture. That's what we hope our music will do/is doing.

Style of music is Afro-pop. We had a lot of fun making this album, and we are more than excited to share the record with you. Find all the details of the album launch here. We sure hope that you can come out and share this special moment with us,if in Nairobi city this weekend. Have a listen and let us know what you think. Catch up with us on Facebook, Twitter, Reverbnation and on our website.

Ingia ndani ya Ma3!

(Come aboard the Ma3)

How to Communicate With Fans So You Connect With Them (Instead of Bore Them to Tears) - MTT - Music Think Tank

http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/how-to-communicate-with-fans-so-you-connec...

Music Discovery by the Numbers | via Billboard.biz

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/digital-and-mobile/business-matters-m...

Let's Stick To What We Do Best, Shall We?

This post will be followed by one on why/how musicians become divas. The unfortunate truth of the matter is that it sometimes is the only way to get things done to your satisfaction. Many a time we are screwed over,  by event organizers, sound engineers et al...The compensation? An apology. What good does a half-hearted 'pole' do for a musician's brand? It is the musician who gets the backlash for a gig gone bad...anyway, more on that later.

Joe Were, aka Jay Dabliu,a gigging musician, aptly retells the story of a recent gig run by people who should otherwise stick to what they do best. It is high time we called out these bad habits. Here goes:

"So this is my first ever blog post and unfortunately I have been driven to write this due to nightmarish circumstances that every artiste/musician dreads in the hands of a “professional” service provider. 

First of all, a little background on myself. I am a keyboardist and have played for various artists as well as Provided backline equipment (That would be Instruments, mics, cabling e.t.c) and also onsight Audio recording solutions. So I tend to believe I have a little know how and experience on the stage and how to solve problems as they arise. 

Now that that’s out of the way…here we go.

Enter Wednesday 5^th October, and I was playing with Just-A-Band, a popular Electronic Music band that just concluded a recent tour of New York, even getting rave reviews from the likes of Will-I-Am and Drum Magazine. So after the New York experience, this would be the first “back home” gig at the famous Tribe Hotel. The sound Provider for the event…Home Boyz Entertainment. 

We get the call to soundcheck at 5pm on Tuesday the 4^th…and we arrive 30 mins before…just to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be…plus I was carrying my pretty bulky Yamaha S90XS keyboard (just because I prefer using my own settings and am familiar with the sounds). When we get there…there is no evidence of any instrument setup going on…6pm…ummm, nope…7pm…still waiting…8pm…oh cool…a guitar amp has been put near the stage….9pm…no…just the guitar amp…so we decide to leave around 9:30pm and reschedule the soundcheck for the next day. 

Wednesday, 5^th October D-Day. We arrive somewhat late (a half hour late) for our scheduled soundcheck time of 4pm due to traffic. So we would imagine since we had an hour at least of slotted soundcheck time. We get there and the Instruments are on stage but no cabling has been done…so we wait…5pm…no…6pm…ummm, no. 7pm, I got impatient and decided I’m going to setup my keyboard myself. 

About 8 Home Boyz guys in “Crew” T-shirts walk around with walkie talkies looking busy but if you really follow one of them, he’s literally just walking around. So I ask one of them to point me to the person in charge of setting up the instruments as we were supposed to sound check about 3 hours ago. He points me to one of them and I go to him and ask him where I should set up and which channel I should use and what not. 

Bear in mind, on this night we had pretty minimal equipment by Just-A-Band standards…we just had to hook up the keyboard and a laptop which was hooked up to a loopmaster. We basically needed only THREE channels (Stereo output from the laptop and a mono feed from the Keyboard) 

The main engineer asks me if I have a jack to jack cable. WAIT A MINUTE…even I, who doesn’t do this on a day to day basis, do not leave home without a jack to jack cable. If it’s not in the boot of my car, it’s in my shoulder bag if I’m not driving….It’s the sim card in your phone, it’s the water in your rice…it’s the hour hand of cables as far as instruments go…Home Boyz Entertainment did not have Jack to Jack cables.   

I of course at this point was tired of waiting for them to sort the setup out so I obliged and went for the jack to jack cable…I get back and he asks if I had a D.I…  at this time…jumping into the nearby pool with my clothes on seemed like a very welcome idea because my blood is boiling… 

So I asked him if they received the tech rider that was sent to them earlier the previous week…he said he didn’t know…I asked him who would know…he didn’t know…I walk off to get my D.Is from the car… 

So they hook up the laptop and they don’t have any feed on the main mixer… after fiddling with buttons and knobs they ask me if I have headphones! HEADPHONES!!!!! Mr, sir on the mixer…how were you going to monitor your mix in the first place? No problem…another trip to the parking lot to get my headphones from the car. At this rate, I’m so fit from the trips on the stairs at the Tribe, I think I might enroll for the next marathon. 

It’s now about 10pm…no soundcheck…and we’re about to be called on stage…(well, we’re already on stage trying to sort the sound) so we decide since there’s no way we’ll use the laptop…we’ll play it full LIVE. Perfect…this is what I do baybie…let’s go. I, the client, am telling HomeBoyz, the service provider how to turn on Phantom power so that the keyboard feed can be received on their mixer…after fiddling with  buttons they eventually find the right one…which I had showed earlier anyway. 

So we kick off our performance with pretty poor sound quality with just the keyboard, drums and bass guitar! 

Right after the first verse…the keyboard is MUTED….apparently they have no idea the keyboard cannot be heard…as I’m signaling the sound engineer and he looks right at me with a blank stare. The drummer and bassist do a pretty good job covering for the rest of the song…and as the song is about to end…the sound engineer comes onto the stage to ask if we’re OK…and I ask him what he thinks…and he goes like, “Oh, the keyboard is off?” 
 

And that is why, ladies and gentlemen, HomeBoyz Entertainment should stick to doing what they do best..DJing!!"

 

Signed, 

Gigging Musician