Music Business, a Kenyan Perspective
Kenyan band Yunasi offered to share a little bit about the music business in Kenya. We often talk about the music business in the US, North America as a whole, and Europe. So we decided to take them up on their offer to share some insights about business on the ground in Kenya.
1. Tell us about your band.
The band's name is YUNASI and our music falls under world music/afro-fusion genre. We call our music, SESUBE (SEga, iSUkuti, BEnga) which is a melting pot of traditional Kenyan rhythms from our local tribes (Luo, Kisii, Luhya, Swahili, with smatterings of English and French) and mixed with modern influences and arrangement resulting in afro-pop sensibilities. This is achieved also by playing modern and traditional instruments like Luo Nyatiti, lots of percussions, guitars, drum kit and African vocal harmonies. Yunasi is a 9-member, live-performing and recording band based in Nairobi, Kenya where all band members come from.
2. How do musicians in Kenya make a living?
In Kenya, most musicians rely mostly on live performances, be it concerts, playing at corporate gigs, or the few festivals around. Album sales are hardly anything to talk about because of rampant piracy, lack of the necessary legal and intellectual rights and structures and poverty which makes possible buyers not able to afford albums despite loving the music.
3. What are some of the biggest challenges of being a musician in Kenya?
Funds and lack of music industry structures are the biggest challenge. This is because as a musician, you have to do everything by yourself - produce music, market, promote and distribute your music and organize your own shows largely without even corporate support in form of sponsorships or in kind. Also, local media gives heavy rotation to American and western sounding music at the expense of authentic music. Yunasi's music is hardly ever played in mainstream media so we have to rely on word-of-mouth or organizing our own shows to make a living here.
4. Are there nearby African countries that have a music industry model you hope that Kenya could follow?
Our neighboring countries like Uganda and Tanzania support their own musicians which makes them able to earn a decent living from music. Their radio stations give preference to their own music sung in their own languages, resulting in a huge fan base and distributors have a wide network. Corporates also support artists during album launches and organizing events. South Africa and Nigeria and generally West Africa are also models that work well in the continent.
5. For those who are unfamiliar with Kenyan music... what are the most popular styles? What is an emerging style you hope to see grow? What is a historic style you wish would come back in popularity?
Lately, local radio has started playing music by young Kenyan artists who have come up with Kenyan versions of hip-hop, crunk and pop which basically use western sounding beats but sung in slang here called Sheng, Swahili and English. Popular styles include Genge (Calif records and producer Clemmo), Kapuka (by Ogopa deejays) among others. An emerging style is Afro-influenced forms whereby the artists incorporate a lot of local stuff mainly using Swahili,which will be good for us in helping create a global identity for East African music. A historic style would probably be Kenyan genres like Benga which was big in the 70's and 80's when Kenyan music was at its height and even influenced Congolese music. Yunasi are incorporating a lot of Benga in their music which would make us stand out in the world stage.
6. How is the music industry in Europe and North America perceived in Kenya?
Kenyan musicians would very much love that our music industry would have the organisation, massive large market and success same as in the USA and Europe. The fact that the US industry, as we perceive it, is very well-structured and allows musicians to concentrate on creating their music while the wheels of the business side roll (that is, there are professional event organizers, record companies, distribution networks, dedicated performance venues, high-quality productions) .This is a source of inspiration and our dream in Yunasi is that we could be able to break into these markets as there is greater appreciation of artistic creation. Music lovers support musicians better by attending their concerts, buying original albums and merchandise and generally there is greater respect for intellectual rights leading to low piracy rates. We would love our music, which we believe has worldwide appeal, to crossover into these markets (wouldn't hurt to have financial rewards commensurate with the value we believe we have either!). The innovations that exist and love for global sounds from all over the world is something that we as musicians in Kenya would like to be emulated here.
7. What is the best thing you have done for your music career?
The best thing we have done for our career as Yunasi was our decision not to follow music trends in Kenya but to carve our own sound and niche which would make us unique in the local and world stage. We observed the success of mainly West African musicians on the world stage and saw that it is sticking to your roots and having modern arrangements whose output is sound that is new to audiences which makes a musician stand out from the serious competition around. After 10 years, despite being ignored and other numerous challenges, we have come up with a sound that is uniquely Yunasi both in terms of recorded music and live performances. We also decided to bring organization in the management of our affairs thereby allowing us to concentrate mainly on creativity and have a management team taking care of our business affairs. We however are very much involved in the day to day running of our music affairs.
8. What are some tools you wish existed that could help bands like yours?
A credible industry structure would be beneficial to us and all local musicians. We need good managers, promoters, producers, distribution networks, venues and corporate support. This would allow musicians do what they do best which is creating music and knowing that there is an efficient machinery that will take the music to the people and grant musicians a decent livelihood and make music attractive to encourage more musicians. Without the industry structure here we have to look to Western countries for sponsorship or 'brand' deals.
9. How has the Internet changed your ability to operate as a band?
The internet has been a God-send to Yunasi. It allows us a window to the whole world and different demographics that despite geographical positioning can be exposed to our music conveniently. We have a website making our info available 24-hours a day, social networks like Myspace accounts allowing interaction with potential fans, YouTube allowing our videos to be available, music available for purchase directly for download from our website, on Itunes, Amazon and so forth. We are able to get useful contacts of world music professionals, media, festivals and organizations just at the click of a button that allows networking opportunities. We even can send our music to anyone in the world and use the available learning opportunities to make us better musicians. We were even invited to two festivals in Thailand festival thanks solely to our website and the availability of our video on the internet. People are also able to contact us easily after listening to our music from whatever sources. The internet offers us numerous opportunities to better ourselves as a band and further our careers.
10. Is there anything else you would like to share with the world music industry in North America and beyond?
We'll share what we do best --Yunasi music will blow you away! Just watch this space and be ready to be SESUBE'd soon!
Karibu Kenya.
YUNASI
www.yunasi.com
D - finally! I was beginning to think I was the only person in North America following Yusani on the Beeb's Next Big Thing. I saw these guys in Tanzania at a festival a few years back and they blew me away - very raw afrorock in an old-school, Osibisa vein (this is before Estelle joined the group). So glad to see this - will you be working with them in the future?
Posted by: tom pryor | June 19, 2008 at 04:53 PM