Putting the Cart Before the Horse

Every year during the festive season one sees hundreds of flyers

and posters for LIVE shows. This is quite normal because it is

during this time that artists make most of their revenue

throughout the year. Put simply, artists get paid in a big way

during the festive season with numerous shows booked back to

back. Corporate sponsors get on board during this season

paying top dollar for artists they believe best represent their

brand. That said it is alarming that there is very little

representation from the local hip-hop community when it comes

to these "Big dollar" gigs. Corporates don't seem keen to sign on

a hip-hop artist for a live gig. That is not the million dollar

question. In my opinion the private sector is profit-driven, if it is

not worth their while then they won't touch it.

This immediately leads me to another monster question, do local

hip-hop artists know their worth? Do we undervalue or overvalue

ourselves? This is a very subjective question. Saying that all

local hip-hop artists have the same value would be misleading.

Artists are different and by default based on their accumulated

success in their careers have a different value system.

A quick simple way to know your worth is to go through this

hypothetical exercise. Let's say the owner of a small venue

wanted to give you a contract to perform for 4 Saturdays

throughout the festive season. It's a small venue which can

accommodate 200 patrons with adequate social distancing. It

costs 600USD to run this event with the band and advertising.

Tickets are 5USD each. It's projected that at full capacity the

event will generate close to 1000USD every Saturday. 1000USDminus 600USD running costs leaves a projected profit of

400USD. The owner of this venue offers to pay you 200USD per

show, that's 50-50 on profits. They will pay you in advance, that's

800USD to perform for four Saturdays. 800USD! And now the

mammoth question, do you really feel confident that 200 people

will attend your live show paying 5USD each for four weekends

in a row. Be honest and know your worth. How many patrons will

really come to see you perform? Be honest. It's important to stop

putting our ambitions and sometimes very emotional "I can do it"

ahead of the brutal truth. Stop putting the cart before the horse.

The horse in this instance is the engine that drives your career

forward, anything that raises awareness about your brand is your

horse. Anything you can forward as proof that other stakeholders

have assigned you value is your horse and you are the cart. If

you are nominated for awards, that's worth something. If you

have performed on any platform where it can be followed up,

that's your horse. Videos trending online, social media platforms

brimming with followers that's your horse. Collaborations with

artists who already have recognised "horses" that's your horse.

Getting airplay or better yet featuring on chart shows can all

contribute to your ability to convince prospective sponsors that

you can reel in 200 patrons to watch you perform at a private

venue for four Saturdays in a row. By now the cold truth must be

dawning on you, your current worth is exposed by the number of

shows you have been booked to perform at during the festive

season. A season when business persons and promoters are

keen to make a killing by signing up the right artist and betting

on the right horse.