I expect to be castigated by some readers after this epistle, but as
usual I will be quick to remind you that my epistles are purely my
views and opinions. This epistle would have come up sometimes later,
but after a heartfelt discussion with 2 colleagues I respect so much
in the PR factory – DJ Sean of the AceWorldTEAM and Ozone of Ozone
Media, I decided to put pen to paper, hands on keyboard.
This is being done in view of the general public to see the hole being
created intentionally or indirectly by we the fans with and without
the aid of the social media network.
Truth be told, the social media network has improved the promotions of
our acts and their craft. It has become the cheapest and fastest means
of reaching out to the fans, but its negative effects should not be
overlooked. It’s obvious knowledge that the reasons why artistes
remain in their craft is acceptance by the fans and as such they
should be respected. This doesn’t stop the fans from also bearing at
heart that artistes are just humans too who have decided to pay the
price and use their “talents” in the quest for stardom. The havoc
which has been done by the social media is not one that happened in a
day. It is a build up over time. I must say that in my humble opinion,
this platform of promotions have made a lot of artistes lose focus.
Imagine an artiste who thinks that with 10,000 downloads on one of the
reputable sites, he has made commercial success. Please how much has
that saved in your bank account? This is Nigeria where you hardly or
never get paid for online traffic caused by your song.
In my opinion, I think a lot of artistes need to go back to the basics.
Twitter, the trending social media network as at press time is one
medium via which acts reach out to their fans and they get a feedback
from them too. It has a follow and follow back mechanism which allows
for direct messaging when both parties are behind each other. While
some people advocate that artistes should and must follow all their
followers, I have a contrary view to this. Not because I don’t think
that fans should be respected, but because I know that some fans go
beyond their boundaries at the slightest opportunity they get. Some go
as far as insulting or cursing their supposed “beloved artistes” when
a plea for money or other benefits is not granted.Also on this social
media network, fans all in the name of a follow back or retweet give
unnecessary hype to songs and acts that are not worthy. While
un-serious acts who blindly fall for this just hit the retweet button,
they also often times block fans who choose to tell the truth. This is
so disheartening. A lot of the new acts do not see any room for
improvement and think the only thing to be given to them is kudos. It
is also understood that some fans do not have very great communication
skills, but this is not a warranty for a block on this social media
network. That’s why i think a couple artistes need emotional and
psychological training.
Still on Twitter, it must be said that most artistes come here to
profess fake attitude. They come online displaying fake colours. While
they are rude and proud in their normal everyday life, they come on
this social network to appear as just as saints. You need to hang out
at events to have a feel of what I’m saying, especially when they do
not know who you are. To the fans, a follow back, mention or retweet
doesn’t mean that your favourite act is a good individual. An in-depth
on them tells you more.
On this same social network, artistes now fool themselves thinking
that the number of followers you have is equals your acceptance, so in
this bid buy followers and trends. This goes beyond Twitter to the
purchase of Facebook likes and Youtube views.This is a shameful act.
Some acts just drop a wack song, and in a couple hours it’s trending
on twitter. This is self deceit. If you want to lie to the world, at
least you won’t lie to yourself that you purchased that trend.Some
videos which should not have more that a few hundred views now jump to
have several hundred thousands of views; this is an insult to talent
and good music which our music factory was once known for. These acts
leave a very big hole in the credibility and creativity of our music
factory and artistes.
Lastly, this message is to the fans. Please endeavour to always grab a
copy of albums by your cherished artistes. This is the major way they
can be supported. These people put a lot of effort into what they do.
Please enough of the always search for download links, these acts need
to be supported. All thanks to piracy as these CDs come in cheap and
handy.When a fan uploads all the tracks from an artiste online for
others to download, it is not support, it is murder. It’s unjust.
That’s their intellectual property. It should only go online when the
artiste deem fit.
With these, I would like to say that I really do mean no harm, but
then we just need to put a better face to our music factory. Emphasis
should be placed on creativity, credibility, depth and talent.
If I splashed a little dirt on you, it wasn’t aimed at you, but its
all good you caught your sub. It’s time for a change.
Ff@waleapplause01
26B571FF