Industry experts tip musicians on monetisation, promotion

Serah Adong, a licensing manager at Mdundo, a pan-African music streaming platform, led the discussion, with participation from Ivan Kifumba, who heads distribution, music publishing & licensing at Swangz Avenue; Dennis Watante, founder of Omziki Distribution; and Geoffrey Jeff Ekongot, a consultant in the music industry.

Kifumba, who is also the founder of Kelele Digital, a company that helps creators manage, distribute, monetise, license and publish their content, said that musicians need to "take what they are doing seriously" while assigning roles they aren't competent at to professionals.

He argued that assigning roles to experts who are best suited to handle them makes work seamless. Kifumba noted that due diligence is crucial while hiring organisations and experts for project execution.

Commenting on brand building, he said artistes should aim for top-notch products in everything they do. "You've to have a business plan," he said, adding that musicians need to ensure that key elements of the music business like licensing and split sheets need to be handled right from the start.

"Some people do these things without involving lawyers," he said.

That said, Ivan Kifumba noted: "Excited with where we are going as an industry... I love these directions and I believe we are heading in the right direction."

On his part, Dennis Watante said that some artistes are failing to grow to due a lack of discipline, citing musicians who court stunts that portray them poorly for them to trend.

"Identifying the right people to work with," said Wantate, who also advised artistes to "take time to study documents [they are signing."

"Use professionals to guide you," he said.

Speaking on content promotion, Wantate advised artistes to exploit all available platforms, including digital and traditional media

"The more you support your artistes, the more they'll give us the best," he said, in conclusion.

Jeff Ekongot, speaking on promotion, said that artistes should also look into those in their genre and find means to tap into their fanbase. He gave an example of Alien Skin and Fik Gaza.

They've done such events in other different markets. T

Meanwhile, Serah Adong noted that Mdundo was designed so that it is fitted for the African market and they work with several distributors across the globe, including Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group.

"The interface is user-friendly," she said, adding that they've now reached over 300 million users and 30 million monthly active users.

According to Adong, Mdundo offers musicians on their platform several incentives, including protecting their music from piracy, media tours, reports and so on.