Nigerian artists are treated as business brands

This is so pathetic. I have this strong belief that  live performances are meant to be original and creative. Therefore, Nigerian Artists should not be treated as a business agreement between  their fans.

It is obvious that my thoughts about live performances by Nigerian Artists are wrong. This past weekend, the One Africa Music Fest concert held in London. The concert has recorded a very bad report as a result of some bad decisions and time wasting.

One of the major complaints in the concert was the poor quality performance by top Nigerian Artists. People ripped into their favorite stars because, they put in horrible performances, and did nothing to elevate the experience of watching them live. The fans were so displeased by these poor performances. Even the best ones, threw in a little miming, took their money and rode into the sunset.

       

Sometimes i wonder what exactly we want from these artists. do they really owe us after we must have paid them and also attend their concerts?

This stands as a good instance. Just like everything else that involves a transaction, as soon as our money goes towards a product, we feel like we own a part of it. This is also applicable In the case of concerts. after the money has been deposited, the dates have been fixed, the calendars have been cleared, and everyone is set for a good time, the connection between between an artist  and his fans  automatically become commercial. Now, this is the most interesting part of music. the "MUSICAL EXPERIENCE". Yes, the musical experience cannot be simplified to just another commercial transaction. It is emotional. Without the performance, the performance can never be tangible. Fact!

Now, this is where the problem arises, when the artiste does not play to the script and this keeps the fans dissatisfied. this can be very painful. infact it is more than a betrayal.

Attending the best concerts, you feel like a higher level of trust has been established in the hall, with the audience and the artiste feeding off each other to lift themselves. When this is broken, there is no worse feeling.

In the case of Nigerians, that promise is always broken. it is very common to experience disappointing performances from Nigerian artist. Yes! It is a rarity to experience a holistic, mind-blowing, toe-curling performance by Nigerian artist. The only exceptions are Asa, Darey, Johnny Drill, Bez, Flavour, Psquare, Waje, Tiwa Savage, Omawumi, Yemi Alade and a few others. The rest show up, put in the barest minimum and move.

This is because many Nigerians are not artists. They are simply hustlers; businessmen who are more concerned about increasing profit by cutting costs to the barest minimum. Artistry is a myth to this people. They take no pride in it, hence they only lean on their bank account balances as a validation of their work.

These people take no pride in performing. They simply have found the sweet spot where they can do the barest minimum, which would cost them nothing. They treat the emotions and expectation of the fans as an avenue to make money. Everything else is abstract.

And the Nigerian society helps them get away with it. The artists understand that a huge amount of Nigerians who attend these concerts have not experienced better. They are simply just happy to experience their favorite artist on stage. So the performers take advantage, and deliver horrible performances.

Combine this mentality and the entitlement of our stars, and you would see why we have a system that perpetuates mediocrity. One very popular artist once exclaimed that the fans should be happy to even see them in person.

Here is a remedy to all this. i suggest that fans should see these artist as a businesses who have promised to provide a service, and when these services are poor, they should give the negative feedback. Create enough negative PR to convince promoters to not book these acts. If that happens, the artists’ business will be affected, and they will be forced to sit up and make changes by improving the quality of their service.

These artists treat their live performances like a business. They too should be treated as service providers and forced to create great standards of service. Only then can we move forward