Getting musicians to understand their profession

The music industry has grown over the years and it is now competing favourably internationally. But somethings are still not done right by many of our celebrities .
Many of them startedfrom theneighbourhood and fought theirway throughto stardom, while otherswere winners from talenthuntprojects who seized the opportunity and madefame and fortune becoming not just prosperousbut also household names.
Some come like silken drapes smiling to the bank with pleasure after winning thehearts of fans. Others are still on the streetsselling their CDsand striving tomake ends meetfromwhat they believe would fetchthem money.
Live (band) performance is not for the rock artistesalone. A flashback toNigerian musicians of old shows they performed with live bands which were well received by the people. People like Bongos Ikwue, Oliver deCoque, Osadebe, Fela Anikulapo Kuti and some old fuji musicians did that and those following behind them are still performing with live bands.
All comers’ affair
Musicians were known to be talentedpeople who were supposed to sing and perform with life bands. But today, everybody wants to sing whether or not he or shehas the talent. An elderly man today does not mind going by the nameJunior Wizkid. People are desirousof making moneyand many are forgettingthey have to work hard for it. Many people abandoned what they were doing and embraced music for the lure of fame and moneyand some of them are finding it difficult to breakthroughbecause theylack the wherewithal to succeedas musicians.
Performing with CDs
A professional musician should be able to sing with a life band and not just move about with CDsand wait for the DJ tohelp boosthis songs before hecan perform. The problem with many of today’s artistesis that they aren’t professionals. Therehad been many occasions when shows were on and artisteswere taken by surprise. Itwas eitherthat the soundsystem went off or there was power failure and them looking confusedholding themicrophone as if it suddenly turned into a snake. Some can’t even mimethe songs they supposedly wrote. A professional can’t be caughtso unawares.
Live band
In order tobridge the gap between live band performersand CD musicians, PMAN Abuja recentlyorganised a competitionfor artistesto seetheirlevel of masteryof the art with live bands. The PMAN governor, Collins Adeyemi said, “there are many musicians todaywho are not professionals. They are just there singing with CDs. Ifyou ask them to perform with live bands they will be confusedand that is why we are encouraging them to continue to performwith live bands to improve on their artistry.
Internationally, live band performance makes the artistegreat, brings out his vocals and respect. Artistesmostly performwith live bands and while on stage, they seldomuse their songs to perform, theymostly usethe beat of the songs they are to performthat is why their performancesare always complete.Whenever they usethe songs, it’s a sign the artiste isn’t there to perform.
Our artistesuse theirentirealbums on stage as they are in the market;the DJs play them as if they (artistes) are not present.If it’s called live performance, why should CDsor a full soundtrackbe played for an artiste who is presenton the show?
Artistesthat performwith live bands
It is very hard when you attend2face’s concertsand seehim performing with CDsor soundtrack.He comeswith his band and they give performancesthat are respected internationally.
Femi and Seun Kuti,offspringsof thelate Fela Anikulapo Kuti took aftertheir father.Whenever they are on stage, the thrill could be feltby everyonein attendance. The Okoye brothers also are mastersin theirgameand go round the world with theirband. They play the instrumentsand are professionals tothe cure.
Flavour is also another musician that performs with live bands. Others are Asa and Jeremiah Gyang,
Advice
According topopular actor, Jibola Dabo, he said artistes should have times to improve themselvesin whatever field they chose. ‘You do not need to be around the university to study, even if it’s some oftheselocally organised workshop, sothat you can understand thebasic rudimentsof what you want to go into. This is one analysis I usually give. You cannot because you have a lawyer friend and afteryou have been friends for 5-10-years, you now sayI have a lawyer friend, letme go and try this casetomorrow, and you say o boy sitdown let me try this case, I have been your friend. Let me try this case today, it’s impossible.
‘A Lot of them just come in because they think they can do it. The earlier the producersstand firm against marketersand then the directors too, with trained ones or the ones that are trainable, the betterfor us. I will tell the upcoming ones, please acquire some kind of skill. If you want to bein a profession, you must have been trained. ‘ he advised.
Performing with live bands strengthens the vocal chord of an artisteand positions him to sequencehis lyrics with thebeat. In almostall cases, artisteswho perform with live bands are betteroff, command respectand are popular with the fans. So, musicians should concentrateon knowing how to performwith live bands.