Written on April 20,2020
The Unholy Trinity: The threesome between creators, media, and brands.
Numerous panels have talked about the need for collaboration among creatives and mutual partnerships for growth. However, not much thought is given to how to navigate the next phase of aligning interests, commercial objectives and enhancing the experience. Here are the nuts and bolts of the framework to do so.
The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted each industry out there. For some, it is the new normal, with hope to return; but for others, it is a much-needed shift to start afresh. The media, events and entertainment industry has not been spared either, with creators, artistes and producers being forced to evolve.
The business of going live — the power and creativity behind the live stream.
To audiences, it is an opportunity to hear from their favorite artiste, DJ or connect with different creators. Some may argue that they are owed a superb fan experience — good sound, lighting, curation, engagement, and so forth. Basically, something that is worth their time. On the other hand, the audience has a variety of options, thus they are also competing for your attention and pushing compelling creative on third party platforms with their own restrictions.
Let’s talk money.
You have probably not been paying for these things but you’re asking artistes and event organizers to put something together and here comes the difficult piece.
For a long time, we have been interacting with artistes on stage, DJs, speakers, emcees and consumed their content across platforms. Monetization in the physical world was pretty standard — key being gigs and sponsorship. At the onset of Covid-19, gigs have now started to move online, but how will the surrounding ecosystem fare?
THE CREATOR/ PRODUCER
Let’s assume you have an idea and a fan requests you to do something. The next thing you’ll probably ask yourself is how you’ll make it happen and still serve the sauce. Primarily, you’ll be looking at three things: production, platform and people.
It does cost money to get gear. If you do not already have a studio, equipment, and talent, you’ll have to go even deeper into your pockets. The importance of studios — like Uganda-based “Fezah” — that connect artistes to stages worldwide through data, has now understandably shot up.
Let’s unpack these three ways
Kenyan artiste “Nyashinski” recently performed on Instagram and Youtube, garnering about 8,000 & 15,000 live viewers respectively. Part of it was sponsored by Safaricom and another piece to publicize his new ‘Lucky You’ album. While he’s widely revered as the G.O.A.T (Greatest Of All Time) and with a huge following, he also used the opportunity to promote his album — which boosted the pre-orders.
Sauti Sol did a thing with Global Citizen alongside other artistes. “Music for good.”
G-Money has done “Electric Avenue” — which was a thing on Thursdays at Milan, now online, with a sponsoring brand now on board. Joe Mfalme partnered with Famous Grouse.
We also have multiple other sets independently produced or collaborations. Think Blinky Bill.
What goes on behind the scenes? You have people, camera operators, hosts, a stable network to stream, space to host, and ultimately, effective marketing to make sure fans tune in to the live show. If it does not cost you money, it takes your time and effort while in some cases, it makes you money.
This is where spaces come into play — some of our favorite Kenyan podcasts have gone on a break — whether that’s because the hosts cannot interview people, or possibly record (no access to a studio) or just general lag in creative juices is a question for another day. It does paint a picture of saying how Baraza Media Lab (where we are members) can support the creative community during this period) virtually or physically.
The second piece is the need for a platform — you can opt to give it away for free by utilizing Instagram live or the YouTube route, but you are building your audience and growing the community. You can also find a media partner, broadcaster or build your own platform.
This piece when coupled with data is powerful. For example, as a DJ, if you are pulling X numbers consistently, you can use that to pitch for sponsorship. The other way is to note where the core audience is and optimize to sell to these regions more — the work and merchandise, plan tours (you can work out on partnerships for that post-Covid-19). If you look at downloads (legal or illegal on the dark web) you can mine useful data sets that would inform who’s consuming your work albeit not paying for it. Lastly, demographic. All these things have a target audience, and maybe you cannot create for all to make everyone happy but the data will present you something to chew on.
Last but not least, we have the people: band members, hosts/emcees, technical crew, and logistics — these people need to eat, pay rent and stay safe. You need to think about who’s paying for these things and most importantly, how they are going to monetize. Here lies an in-between: As a creative entrepreneur, one needs to invest in community and brand-building or risk losing relevance. The bigger issue is how to convert fans to customers — sending tips, booking future gigs, selling music, art or merchandise, or sponsorship.
This brings us to a fundamental question: Do they have to do it? The answer is yes and no. On one side, everyone’s doing it so yes, maybe one would think they too need to get in.
You can be great at something but if no one knows about it or forgets, there will always be new kids on the block, hence making this necessary. It is also a time when people suddenly have so much time to discover, catch up and share — or add to their wish list.
If you choose to proceed, how do you earn a livelihood off it, having already tried everything from embedding a Pay bill number on the live chat but that will not always automatically mean fans will chip in. The church has perfected the art of collecting offertory during or at the end of service, while artists get paid first to play. A ticket versus tip. What are ticketing platforms doing by the way?
Furthermore, what will you do when you’re no longer playing, performing, and creating? This is a critical piece to crack. We’ll stop singing, performing, looking good and an entirely new generation will come around and call us old people. What do you do for example as an “influencer” when there are no campaigns when you cannot travel, dine out or create? Passive income comes from things you own and create. However, it is also an opportunity to use the same influence/ platform for good to give back for example. We’re digressing.
Where is the money now?
You could license visual content or produce something out of it.
You could publish and sell books, albums etc.
You could sell art, merchandise, prints, whatever is in your archive.
Figure out who’s likely to pay you to play
Or you could provide the backbone — space, tech, tools and skills that allows these things to thrive
THE PLATFORM
TV networks and radio stations primarily differentiate themselves through live content like sports, talk shows and concerts. With live events temporarily phased out, the edge traditional TV possessed will depreciate, as consumers migrate to streaming platforms. Second, studio production of content is at a standstill due to social distancing rules.
For traditional media, the above is just one aspect of the broader issue. The bigger problem is a drastic drop in advertising revenue and sponsorship opportunities even with the rising viewership/listener base and audience growth. Which brings us to the next question, where’s the emergency exit? You have a couple of things to juggle here: An audience that you need to keep engaged, in-house talent & external production ecosystem, and advertisers looking for novel ways to reach their customers beyond Covid-19 messaging, without being tone-deaf. Traditional media DO NOT HAVE BUDGET but NEED CONTENT. The streaming guys might be swamped right now looking at pitches but what are they paying? Pay-TV has gradually lost viewership, which is another story altogether.
Why haven’t Internet Service Providers such as Safaricom Home Fibre, Zuku and Faiba sponsored these streams to reach new customers for new connections or renewals or at least, support the craft? Quality of service has been an issue but this is also an opportunity for Liquid for example, that has previously been fantastic for enterprise use to target home users by powering these streams.
ENTER BRANDS
We will use brands as the collective term for sponsors. They have a number of problems — too much money or too little, brand safety concerns and they don’t know when this is going to end so they’ve stopped reacting, the wait-and-see period is over, and are now initiating things or rethinking. Now, the question is — what can you do? What do we do? Where do we start?
Realigning budgets: which presents both an opportunity and a challenge. For people who are used to planning stuff a year ahead or next quarter now, having to commit, with new information trickling in and the absence of historical data, presents another challenge. Literally, what Covid-19 has done is kick out that box people are always trying to think out of, which is good. A level playground of sorts. Some brilliance and leadership are needed. Perhaps it has shaken the table a bit and rocked the boat, making this a great time to be creating and building. Always remember a good decision today is way better than a perfect one after months of meetings, research, and all that — say yes and figure it out.
WHAT MAKES IT THE UNHOLY TRINITY?
“Sunday Cruise” was a popular thing at Tamasha. It has its own cult following.
Covid-19 enters and they have to take it online. The fans demand it. They too need an outlet.
Okay, they can mix, but what tech is needed to keep a live stream up, that Instagram caps and YouTube pulls down due to copyright infringement? So they moved to FOMO.co.ke.
Then Spice FM. BOOM!
When you have the audience, audio and visual sorted, tech sorted another important aspect — sustainability. These things converge to introduce yet another thing — fans just need the music or the show. It could be live, or you can make it appear live, so you can optimize the content to each platform, which means if Instagram says it’s 1 hour or Zoom says it’s 30–40 minutes, we will do just that. And if YouTube can take 2 hours, you will have 2 hours. Most importantly, for dark social.
Then there’s another angle to it too which is to take the product to the ones who have always done these things: radio and TV stations. They have the equipment, personnel, and network — across radio, TV, digital and physical — studios and all that. At this point, you’re coming with your concept, a cult following, and community — pretty much, that’s our sound guy, that guy does this and that lady takes care of this. You’re bringing a show. So then, who pays and for what? And most importantly, how much? Who owns the new thing you’ve co-created? Not forgetting use — across platforms (distribution) and share of the revenue.
However, when things get there, they become a bit hazy.
On contracts first, when people talk about lawyers and paperwork, you need to understand that creators are at times signing things they don’t understand or are negotiating based on current pain, not future potential or ego. Lawyers practice the theory without understanding the mechanics of the industry. Most acclaimed creators have experienced legal departments but you decide to settle for sending the paperwork to your uncle or cousin who has not really done anything around IP and the creative economy.
Now, the platform provides their technical production capabilities, experience, presenters and you literally plug in and play until that is not what fans expect. Data tells you what people are listening to, interesting niches to tap into or replicate and you can also track sentiments. However, when you’re taking something from offline to online, from raise your hands to emojis, from packed room till 5 am to streams going up and down by the hour, it often becomes an extreme sport.
Your call to make is do you listen to the first set of 100/ 1000 fans or the potential to reach 100K through this new partnership? To a creator, 99 disciples may be happy but it is the one unhappy one that will keep you awake at night. Feedback is key in this process and you need a system to synthesize it to actionable insights for continuous product development.
Another hurdle is how to keep the show on when there is no budget or partner? Reggae must never stop.
In this trinity, one guy has the concept, the other has the reach and the other brings budget but as you haggle and push back and forth, don’t forget the person who really keeps the lights on here: the audience. More often than not, if the cheque comes from the middle, you will be paid peanuts (but you’ll never have to worry about so many things). You will cross-pollinate their audience with your sauce and use the bait to lock more gigs, build your brand and gain some affinity across new segments. You can also take the standard dose of exposure, end up with an entirely new product: Have you ever gone to pitch and instead, it turns out to be a briefing session for what they need, not what you have, or you can wake up to an invoice for their airtime.
If the cheque comes from the corporate, it has some fine print and KPIs and if your fans are keeping the lights on, it does come with huge expectations and a level of accountability. Always remember, if it is free, you are the product. Also, evaluate opportunities and align your ‘support’ for culture fit. As always, the intentions are good but do not let objectives ruin a good thing, for the culture. To artistes, DJs, fellow creators, and magicians: In most cases, he who pays the piper calls the tune but if you’re conflicted, always negotiate on the basis of what is good for the fans. Remember, you can always achieve the results and keep the relationship. You do not have to be an asshole or a pushover. Be a creative negotiator.
Shows change stations. Sponsors switch when numbers dip. The community stays.
This is a good time to figure out this framework for good. For the future. Let us know what you’re thinking or looking for. Or what we can create together!
