South African Musos Need To Support Each Other More
Image: traveller24
I could be wrong, but I believe that there was a time when we used to celebrate unity in the local music scene + one another’s achievements and successes. These days all we do is criticize, complain & criticize. It’s actually gotten so bad now that +30 year old DJ’s don’t even mind spending hours (if not days) on the internet, arguing about how a 3 year boy old shouldn’t have won a competition that they didn’t take seriously in the first place.
Look, I’m not an expert here but one thing I do know (for sure) is that such negative rants will not get you any special radio and/or tv interviews. They will not get you on the cover of any popular magazine and/or newspaper. They will not buy you a big house or fancy car or a private jet. They will not get you any endorsement deals. They will not make any positive changes to your life. They will not increase your DJ bookings. But what they could do though; among other things, is destroy an individual’s confidence & sense of self-worth. For all you know, that very same individual could’ve easily been the one person who would’ve been willing to open doors for you in this music industry. But now, you’ll never know because all you thought about was posting nonsense for the sake of entertaining a few people that’ll probably never even bother to make an appearance at any of your club gigs (if you’re getting any bookings, that is).
Image: Jamiatul Ulama
See what most of us have seem to forgotten is, that we need to work together to keep the local music movement alive. of course it’s a competition but working together with other musos is the foundation to building a successful music career that will grow and prosper – as research has proven, so simply put: we really need stop hating on each other and start being helpful and supportive.
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Now I know I have made a habit of including this guy’s name in most of my posts about the music industry. But that’s mainly because I really respect him as a fellow professional and he does have this habit of talking sense, when it comes to the subject. In addition to that, he is a living legend and he has been working in this music industry for as long as I can remember. Anyways, his name is Nic Burger and he currently works at Universal Music Group South Africa.
Image: Nic Burger | Facebook
Recently, Nic was interviewed by Pulse Radio, as part of their ”BEYOND THE SPOTLIGHT” interview series and in this interview, he talks about a handful of interesting subjects and also highlights some of the challenges that we’re facing in the the local music and/or dance scene. That said, I think this interview is very insightful and anyone who wishes to make it in this music scene should check it out & take notes: click here to read interview on Pulse Radio Also, kindly share it with your friends on social media, so we can reach a bigger audience.
Image: Vickie Taylor
Otherwise, yeah – spread love and stop hating. In the words of legendary DJ Black Coffee “I believe the more we dance together, the better we will become.”
