Some Deejays and Radio Presenters/On Air Personalities always say they are good music lovers and claim to promote good music, yet they are scared of thinking outside the box and promoting new music from unknown artistes. How will anyone know a good artiste or great music if they don’t get airplay or get heard. They forget that every artiste at one point or the other was a newbie and unknown too until someone decided to give them a chance or take a chance on them and promote them.
When new artiste’s don’t get AirPlay or can’t compete how then can they make good music? I know there’s a lot of WACK music as per content out there, we no longer have lyrically rich and meaningful songs instead it’s a repetitive cycle of the same meaningless lines and hooks that all say the same thing (bum bum, pop champagne, wind your waist, party all day, etc). But there are loads of GOOD music out there too.
Because artistes these days are scared of being outshined by others they simple follow trends and make music that EXPIRES after 3 months when you hear/listen to them you ask yourself really? But who would blame them when the only means of earning income in Nigeria as a musician is via shows or endorsements. Only a few earn income from digital downloads or get paid royalty. Everyone, family members included and even so called friends or fans all want a FREE DOWNLOAD LINK none wants to buy your music or to pay to get it. In Africa the cost of paying for internet data is too high in most instances that nobody’s hardly streams. Hell, even the government doesn’t prosecute pirates or have any form of checks against piracy. So there is no protection of an artiste’s rights, mechanical or intellectual property.
There is nothing bad about a DJ or OAP or Radio station being different. There’s no harm in playing good music even when it is new music and the artiste is popular or know yet. Take a chance on new music today, DON’T WAIT FOR THE ARTISTE to “BLOW” before joining the bandwagon and playing His/Her music.
Be the one to break their music in, be the first to play it, after all you will hold bragging rights to having put him/her on!! ALSO IF YOU FEEL A SONG IS WACK OR NOT UP TO YOUR STANDARD BE HONEST ENOUGH TO TELL THE ARTISTE YOU don’t LIKE IT, BUT ALSO LET HIM/HER KNOW IT’S JUST YOUR OPINION.
Remember some artistes like Keith Sweat and NEYO were once told they can never be successful artistes with the kind of voices they had. So do not be afraid to speak up and go to bat for a new artiste or for new music if it excites you and tickles your fancy. Everything in life is a risk, but when you see a risk you feel is worth taking by all means go for it.