Kenya business man and co-founder of Nailab,Sam Gichuru has recently weighed in on the play Kenyan music debate.
Although he is not an expert in the music industry, he says that music is a business like any other business, selling a product/service.
“If you have to ask people to support your product, then it’s probably not good enough.” he said
According to Gichuru, good products sale themselves and therefore in relation to music, he says that a good song will drive its own demand.
He also adds on to his sentiments saying that what artists need to understand is to meet their customer needs.
Gichuri maintains that it doesn’t really matter who plays an artist , if it’s a bad product it will have a short shelf life.
“It’s like buying a phone with apps the manufacturer thought they were amazing but you go ahead to download different apps.” he stated
His perception of a good song is that it lasts long, appeals to the kids in us, it’s about hope, inspiration, love even tragedy, relatable things.
Best music for him is when it is weaved into a story, with hidden meaning that you sing along to as a kid but as a grown up you smile at the cleverness.
Highlighting examples of artists from the International market, he says that Diamond or Davido are big artist specifically because they are played in their home countries.
He reasons that their music APPEALS to a larger audience across Africa (market size) & they use strategic customer acquisition strategies such as collabos.
For him this is a very big conversation and the bottom line is that good music plus good media policies and system is what will drive the industry forward.
Follow on his thread of tweets
The business of music.
Music is business like any other business, selling a product/service.
If you have to ask people to support your product, then it's probably not good enough. Good products sale themselves.
A good song will drive its own demand.#PlayKenyaMusic
— Sam Gichuru (@SamGichuru) January 12, 2019
Maybe the best way is what @HeyHeyBlinky brought up on machinery (i.e distribution)
1. Bad song + bad machinery = X
2. Bad song + good machinery= X/✓
3. Good song + bad machinery = X
4. Good song + good machinery = ✓— Sam Gichuru (@SamGichuru) January 12, 2019