[FA Worldmusic] :SPAM: Re: SXSW musings

Tue Mar 27 17:12:01 EST 2007

...from the front lines of music retail:
There is absolutely no chance this will work in the physical world.  
Anything is possible in the digital world, but 'filing' is the least of my  
concerns.
Exposure is.  Part of that problem is the non-existence of effective  
management in world music:  managers who have access to cosmetics and  apparel 
corporates for sponsorship, advertising tie-ins, marketing relationships  etc.
Chopping up an already marginal subset of music at retail  level isn't ipso 
facto going to drive sales, and attract more  customers.  Niche marketing will. 
  Making it sexy, relevant,  appealing - all those things that work in the 
industry for everybody else  (until recently, perhaps!).

One of the great tragedies of 'world music marketing' is the South African  
example, particularly kwaito.  The quality of music videos, production  values, 
artists positioning, imaging and branding - all entry points that any  
contemporary consumer of popular culture can identify with and recognize are  part 
and parcel of the South African music scene.  One of the really  awesome 
cross-marketing things the SA industry did on a habitual basis is  TV 'product' 
placement.  There used to be a TV soap there, set in  a talent school, where a 
frequent plot point was a student party - and the  hottest tunes of the moment 
would get spun / performed by the DJ's / performing  artists.  Part of the 
problem for kwaito and why it hasnt make any  significant inroads in the 
international arena is that its a youth driven  phenomenon and its too 'modern' for the 
world music drivers in our  industry.  Another part is that the SA industry is 
so successful and  big that it's not really needed to be as aggressive in 
pursuing foreign  markets.  And where foreign exploitation was tried, the SA 
industry  completely ignored or forgot the fact that its a DJ-inspired & driven  
popular music.  So instead of trying to sell trax to indy dance labels in  the 
UK, Europe and US they tried to sell artists who mostly perform  with backing 
tracks to their major label sister companies in those  territories.  I 
digress, but in short, the SA industry is one of  the most advanced in providing the 
tools needed to make inroads.

I think  this is a fine idea, especially since World Music is certainly not a
genre  in and of itself.  But the bigger challenge is where to sell the  music
regardless of what it is called.  There are very few outlets  that sell world
music compared to mainstream (and mainstream Latin).   Perhaps
re-categorizing would ignite interest with mainstream music  retailers, but
it is a tall order especially with so much store "real  estate" going to DVDs
and video games.

tom

-----Original  Message-----
From:  fa-worldmusic-bounces+tom=avokado.net at folk.org
[mailto:fa-worldmusic-bounces+tom=avokado.net at folk.org]On  Behalf Of Brad
Powell
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 11:09 AM
To:  Dmitri Vietze
Cc: 'FAworld music list'
Subject: Re: [FA Worldmusic]  :SPAM: Re: SXSW musings

great post. my comment on the idea to create 3  - 4 new main categories...

one approach would be to push existing world  genres that are already
big. Reggae, as the prime world example,  has  managed to become
mainstream and is commonly listed alongside the other  mainstream genres
(and, in fact, is far more mainstream and popular than  'world') Afropop
or MPB might be good 'next-up' candidates -- especially if  they became
more inclusive. For example: if groups like Tinariwen or  Congotronics
were commonly thought of as part of the  'AFropop' genre  then the young
mainstream cross-over fans that are drawn to their music  would learn
that they like something called 'Afropop'. This could  successfully take
bands like Tinariwen out of the 'World Music' margins and  also elevate
the status of all AFropop artists...

Certainly lots of  work has been done to push Latin music into the
mainstream. The recent  'Musica Fresca' tour could be the start of a new
genre -- wasn't that the  idea? -- with the ambition of becoming as
recognized and popular as, say,  bossa nova ?

coin a new term? sure, why not? hip-hop was new  once,  but, please, the
literal names need to go -- 'world music',  'global jazz' -- these all
need a name, not a definition.

i'm sure  we can come up with a nice, simple, catchy name like "rock" or
"pop" --  hmm? how hard can it be...?

;-)

brad

Brad  Powell
President & Creative Director
Calabash  Music
--------------------------------------------------------------
(1)617.459.4063  - office
(1)617.797.1491 - mobile
(55) 11 3323-5953 - Sco  Paulo

skype: calabashmusic

www.CalabashMusic.com
tune your  world

Dmitri Vietze  wrote:

>Chelima, this is such a thought-provoking post... thank  you!
>
>I would like to hear more about:
>
><<My  suggestion would be to create 3/4 new main categories(or further  link
to
>existing ones). >>
>
>Are you saying  global music may benefit from either advocating for a few
>"world music"  categories... like maybe global roots, global  classical,
global
>electronica?  (Or catchier names, I assume.)  How would this break "world
>music" into the  mainstream?
>
>Also, tell us more about this tour you did in  smaller villages. Is this not
>common in the UK? Did your artist  expect/accept not making money on the
tour?
>How did you get the word  out about the concerts?  Are you saying more
people
>came out  than you expected?
>
>Much respect,
>
>===>  Dmitri!
>music at rockpaperscissors.biz
>
>
>-----  Original Message -----
>From: "Chelima Fade"  <info at worldartventures.com>
>To: "'Stephanie P Ledgin'"  <ledgin at fiddlingwithwords.com>;  "'Dmitri
Vietze'"
><music at rockpaperscissors.biz>; "'FAworld  music list'"
><fa-worldmusic at folk.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, March  20, 2007 11:29 AM
>Subject: RE: [FA Worldmusic] SXSW  musings
>
>
>Well it seems there is a great debate happening  on the other side of the
>Atlantic... thanks so much for bringing in  this discussion (although I
>won't be able to talk about the SXSW  conference itself as I have never
>been yet..)
>
>I could  not agree more with Stephanie's point. We need to win the media
>in  order for sector to grow. The question is how. There is certainly
>some  hard and creative work from us to do-  such as changing the way  we
>describe our "products", whether film, live acts, albums,  digitals..
>
>The mainstream sector has for long monopolised the  marketing strategies
>where pre-digested and pre-consumed products are  de rigueur.. leaving
>very little space to cultural references- which  are a must in world
>music promotion (or maybe not??)
>
>The  world music sector has grown massively over the last 30 years thanks
>to  hard work and passion from artists and small companies behind them.
>We  have also benefited from a change in policy where it is now
>politically  correct to celebrate cultural diversity.. which means many
>festivals or  venues publicly funded have an obligations to present and
>promote  "culturally diverse work".. That has allowed people like me to
>extend  the work of artists.
>
>But I guess the sector is at a point of no  return now... it has to grow
>out of itself. There are 2 ways, either we  manage to rehabilitate the
>sector to the mainstream or we have to have  the ambition to be a real
>concurrent to the mainstream.. (and maybe  then become the mainstream
>itself..)
>
>Problem of course  is the practicality of it.
>90% of the sector is made up of small  entities or individuals who are
>too busy working on their next  projects... so who can do this long term
>planning and thinking of a  more sustainable world..
>Also, I don't think we have a big entity/  powerful body representing the
>sector(s) that could influence policies  and media..
>My feeling is that the sector is so diverse that it can not  be under one
>umbrella anymore (or can it?). That was the beauty and  practicality of
>the use of world music, It is now is  weakness.
>
>My suggestion would be to create 3/4 new main  categories(or further link
>to existing ones). We have to be careful and  extremely creative about
>it. And of course we have to gain the support  and following from all the
>"world music community". This is the way we  can then take that back to
>the media and stop them from sending us to  the marginal programme that
>nobody listen entirely dedicated to world  music... If we can have
>powerful figures to help us in this venture,  even better.
>
>The great news is: if the media does not want to  hear about it now, it
>will, once we have conquered the world with  multimedia... The web is our
>chance to redefine ourselves and access  mass market. This is where we
>have to be very careful by not selling  the location before the
>product... marketing is crucial to make it  successful.. cultural
>awareness will follow.. in any case, it is not  for cultural awareness
>that we are in this business (anyhow not me) but  for the beauty of the
>music!!! It just happens to come from all corners  of the world!!!
>I can guarantee you that if we stop being too precious  about where the
>music come from, the market will grow... A recent  personal experience
>really confirmed my feeling. I recently toured  Seckou Keita Quartet in
>20 villages across the UK. Gigs were attended  by villages and neighbours
>villagers. Only 10% of the audience could be  qualified as "world music
>audience". They would have never paid to see  the band in the city. It
>sold out of course because there was nothing  else to do. But we sold
>huge amount of CD (about 40% of attending  audience bought 1 CD and 10%
>bought a second one) and we had 3 offers  for investment in the band..
>our mailing list has of course increased  and we keep receiving emails
>from people that have been charmed by the  band..  I bet you a large
>percentage of the audience would go to  another "African gig" in the
>memory of this  night!!!
>
>Anyway, enough blah blah for me. It would be very good  to take this to
>Womex and other conferences next year. Maybe also find  a way to pay for
>a research to give us clues as to where to go, using  the experience of
>the "world music community"...
>If there is  enough support behind, I am happy to help fundraise the
>money needed  for this work..
>
>Chilima Fadi
>Manager
>World  ArtVentures
>+ 44 7940 266  773
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>FA-Worldmusic at folk.org
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