BEAT BULLETIN APRIL 2015

The legendary Zayn Adams who gave us memorable songs such as Give a Little Love died from a heart attack late in February. From humble beginnings in the Cape Flats, Adams started his professional music career in the 1960s when he left Cape Town for Johannesburg and joined a calypso trio led by Majiet Omar. Adams went on to establish a band called The Pacific Express with other musicians in the early 1970s.  After a long and successful solo career Adams was to be reunited with his band for performances at this year’s Cape Jazz festival.

The death of Nkululeko Habedi – more popularly known as Flabba of Skwatta Kamp fame – was another great loss to the industry. Flabba and his group were once at the forefront of local hip-hop and shared stages with global hip-hop acts such as Snoop Dog, Ludacris, and Will Smith. Flabba will long be remembered by family, fans and us at SAMRO.

SAMRO was also saddened by the sudden death of Public Service and Administration Minister Collins Chabane earlier this month.  Chabane was a member of SAMRO, and his impact in the industry extended beyond just the music he made. Collins Chabane passionately championed issues facing musicians and engaged often with the Ministry of Arts and Culture on issues affecting them despite his busy political life.  Chabane’s history in music goes all the way back to the years he was imprisoned on Robben Island, when he studied music. He later established a band that specialised in mbira music. In 2010, SAMRO celebrated Chabane at a gala dinner in Polokwane for his dedication to the preservation of indigenous South Africa music.

Musician and actor Senyaka Kekana died from a lung infection recently. He was known for popular kwaito hit songs such as Chesa Mpama, Fong Kong and Romeo wa Nkolota. He also acted in a movie called Moruti was Tsotsi which was later adapted into a hit television series. Senyaka is considered to be one of the founding fathers of kwaito having started in the industry in the 1980s. He was 58 when he died.

We would like to take this opportunity to pay special tribute to these great artists who left an indelible mark on South African music. They have left a void that can never be filled.

Do you remember when you solely relied on journalists and radio presenters to get attention for your music? That is no longer the case. Music marketing has taken a turn, and has been completely transformed over the past few years. Nowadays, to become a successful musician you have to make sure that your music is consistent with your brand across the different communication platforms.

South Africa has a great number of musicians, and everyday a new one pops up into the mainstream. That is why having an album is not enough. You need the right music marketing methods to help you get more attention to your music. This will help you get your music to the right audiences and the right audio channels both traditional and digital.

“Every musician needs a different level and type of marketing aimed at the level of their career,” says Joanne Oliviér, Music-Marketing Director at Ticky Box Media, one of South Africa’s biggest music marketing agencies.

Oliviér notes that musicians should be aware of the platforms available to them for marketing their music. “Your main marketing avenues would be radio plugging, social media profile building, print marketing, and TV / music video plugging,” says Oliviér.

Prior to the release of his album Levels, Kiernan Jordan Forbes, popularly known as AKA; performed at Universities around South Africa and would prompt students and his followers on social media networks to take a picture of themselves holding his album Levels. Once the students and followers shared this with AKA on Twitter, he would re-tweet the shared tweet and take the follower’s picture and put it up on his Instagram page. This got more people to buy his album, as everyone wanted to be on AKA’s Instagram page.

Oliviér says there are different marketing methods that a musician can use, depending on their popularity and status. An established musician will need a different level of marketing aimed at the more popular mainstream outlet radio stations and TV stations, while a newbie needs to start at the bottom.

As a musician, you may sometimes feel as though you are getting entangled in the day-to-day business of the industry. It’s well worth the effort and don’t hesitate to get assistance from a professional music-marketing consultant when necessary.

A marketing consultant can help you with the following music marketing platforms:

•Public relations can help you deal with the interview process and building a public profile, and also help you get the interviews.

•Social media is the interaction you will need to have with your fans, so that they know what you are up to.

•Advertising is an area you need to know in order to find legit advertising agents to get your brand across the country.

Getting your craft noticed is more than just having good music, it is a process that requires you to provide and promote it to the right people, in a structured and well-thought through manner.

Recording labels receive loads of demos from musicians. There is a better chance of recording labels rejecting your demo when it is unsolicited than when it is solicited. A solicited demo refers to a piece of music or music production (song writing/beat creation) that has been specifically asked for by recording companies.

Andrew Mitchley, Head of A&R (artist and repertoire) at David Gresham Records shares insightful information that every musician should know.

“Yes, you should send unsolicited demos to record labels; it’s the best way for musicians to get noticed. Although you shouldn’t send in a lot of music, your best chance of getting called in is by choosing music that best represents your craft. When labels like what they hear, they will contact you for more music. Quality always trumps quantity,” says Mitchley.

David Gresham Records is one of the biggest recording labels in South Africa. “We listen to all we receive, good or bad. Our company isn’t necessarily genre based, if there is somebody we believe we can work with, we call them up,” he says.

Believe it or not 99.9% of artists signed on by record labels got noticed through emailed demos. This means that every song that you have heard on the radio was once pitched to a record label and went through a judging process.

So how do you send demos to recording companies?

•Select the track you consider to be the best. Ensure that it isn’t just noise and is quality music, as record labels always go for quality over quantity.

•Check what size/length the record label is able to receive. Have it in an MP3 format and make sure that it is a minimum of 128kb/s.

•Upload it onto the label’s website or email it to them (remember some record labels have a website system where you can upload your music directly). Also note that record labels will reject submissions if they have already been shared on social media websites like Facebook, YouTube or Soundcloud.

•Write an email. In the body of the message you need to introduce yourself, be friendly and mention how it felt when you produced the track. You can also include a short bio. But be careful. Record labels do not want to hear sob stories. Tell them about your background in music, and your experience.

•And before you send the email, mention how the Head of A&R can reach you as that is the person who will be the receiving your mail.

•Lastly, you can send your track.

There you go. Don’t expect a response in an hour. It could take days, weeks or even months. The bigger the record label, the more demos they receive on a daily basis and the longer it takes for them to respond to each demo submission.