As a kid, I thought the definition of an entertainer or a politician is that man whose activities are on the news every night, I thought he is that man whose controversies never stay private. That woman whose breakup in marriage puts food on the table of newspaper houses and that woman who sometimes appear on a newspaper just because she took new pictures. But as I grew up, I have come to see that I was never totally wrong; I was somehow right, although I forgot that an entertainer is that person that is really good at what he does not just because the media said so. While a politician is that man who fulfils his campaign promises in reality and not on the media like I used to see it then and now.
Someday to come, people might remember me with this saying ‘Being an artiste is an occupation, but being an upcoming artiste is not one, it’s just a battle”
Recently, I was in the office when a young man walked in and said he was looking for me. On seeing him I wasn’t so much encouraged because he wasn’t dressed like someone who has come for business. I gave him time to say what he wanted, and at the end, he said he wanted me to help him become a star by helping him meet other stars. That was one of those times that I would usually feel like I am already a godfather in the industry and instead of saying a word I smiled and said to the young man. “You are new in this town, the people you want to meet have been with other people who have not become stars on their own, how will your own case be a different thing?”
He was mute and that was the first time I ever used the quote on the first paragraph.
The young man had a song playing on his phone and already he feels he is a star. he feels the stars he wants to meet will promote his songs for him. has that ever happened?
Everyone wants to hook up with people who can do the things they cannot do. You don’t want another copy of you who will always repeat everything you have ever done, you want someone who is able to create something from your weak points and make you understand you really need them. No one wants another shadow unless on stage where light is striking him from different angles.
Being an artiste is something that should be done very well and being an upcoming artiste, which is a struggle, is a battle that should not be taken lightly.
The god of music is no man, you can never see him except his agents who are people that matter in the industry, people that don’t do music, but make their living on musicians. If they really rely on musicians for bread on their table, it means that when the bread is not there, the artistes will not be getting any good thing from them.
Call it tithing or anything, artistes must recognize the gods of music around them and can never do without them.
Newspaper houses, entertainment websites, radio stations, TV stations, DJs and other electronic promoters are agents of the god of music and no one will ever receive any form of blessings from the him except through these agents.
Having been opportune to talk to so many people in the entertainment industry I realized that there is something missing in their struggle to stardom, which is how to access the media houses around them. They always assume that the fee of the media house is one of the expenses they have to cut out in their journey to fame.
The world has changed in a way that there is no analogue media house anywhere in the country again, every media house has at least one email address, while others have one covering every segment of their publication as well as a website where their contents are shared globally.
Being an artiste does not start from the studio to end on stage where songs are performed, an artiste needs to be packaged because the packaging determines the taste of the brand he is propagating.
Most newspapers in Owerri, Imo State for instance will flood their entertainment pages with stories of artistes based in Lagos, and even abroad, not because they hate the ‘local artistes’. Local contents are the hardest to be found, while the ones they usually publish are readily available online on almost all the entertainment websites in the country.
If all the artistes in Owerri can follow these steps religiously, there will be a tremendous change in the kind of information published on newspapers and entertainment websites based in the state.
1. Get at least 20 email addresses and phone numbers of newspaper houses in the state. these addresses are printed clearly on these newspapers and can be gotten from vendors who have these papers on their tables.
2. The same procedure should be repeated for entertainment websites around the country, mostly those based in the same state with the artiste.
3. For proper packaging, artistes should stop relying on pictures taken with their mobile phones for promotion, they should take time to visit a photo studio for a photo session. What you show the world is what they’ll believe you are.
4. Most artistes believe that the only time they are on news is when they are releasing a new song or video. They think they should only appear on newspaper pages only when they are promoting something. To me, an entertainer has something to promote every day, he should just open his eyes and see his true environment, understand that everything around him is news for the public to read. Artistes go on tours and none hears it, they perform on shows and a lots of other things happen to these artistes that people do not get to hear about. For this, artistes should always act as their own media aide where they do not have one by sending emails to these media houses when ever such things happen. There is a probability that about 20% of the media houses will publish it.
5. If the artiste sends these emails, he should always visit a vendor every morning to check if his stories are published. In a case where he cannot go himself, he should send someone to go for him or contract a vendor who will be checking for him and be ready to contact him anytime there is a publication about him.
6. When a media house publishes an article about an artiste, he should always send a thank you email or put a call through any number he has for the media house on his contact database. He should always try to visit these media houses that support his course with a thank you package, as this will encourage them to do more for him. Where the media houses are far from the artiste, he should request for their account number and pay in something for them.
7. The artistes should make a library of publications on him because sometime in the future, he would like to look back and see where he started.
When an artiste is ready to follow these steps, he will surely see the fruits of publicity.
Sometimes it is not how hard one has worked that will lift him up, but his attitude towards that which he does.
Like I will always say, the god of music is no man, he is nowhere, but his agents are everywhere around you. They have been born for you as an entertainer and are always ready to work for you if you can see how useful they can be to you.
Always remember that anything that is worth doing is worth doing well
