The Changing Musical Landscape - A South African Perspective

For some ten years or so, I have been making plans to change the way I live. From the hustle of life as a working musician in the city toward a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle in the country. Before this change of plan, I had already dedicated some three years to the experience of "trying to make it" in the South African music world and was fast becoming, if not disillusioned with the music industry, acutely aware of the many pitfalls and illusions that mark that thorny path. I owe a not insignificant gratitude to a musical mentor I had around the time of this stark realization, so many thanks to Syd Kitchen, even though he is no longer with us...

Above: The author (far left) performing with his brother (far right) and Ant Cawthorn-Blazeby (centre).

One obvious limitation I had to face was that in a country such as South Africa, the demographics were not at all conducive to an English speaking (singing) European selling very many albums. European folk (by far the majority of the potential record buying public for a young musician of European descent) make up less than 10% of the country, or about five million souls. Of that number, more than half are Afrikaans in culture and language.

An Afrikaans musician has always had far more opportunity to be successful in this country, if only for the simple reason that the Afrikaans community has always been a close knit one. Also known as "The White Man of Africa", Afrikaaners had an identity separate from the rest of the white world, and were always far more supportive of their own people than the English folk. I have come to admire the Afrikaaner folk not least for this quality.

Over the years, many English musicians have begun making Afrikaans music for this very reason. A good example is David Kramer, an English speaking South African who made it big in the Afrikaans market. Here he is giving a Ted Talk on old style Afrikaans folk music.

Most English South Africans, on the other hand, have always tended to be much too enamored of the international British and American music and culture for their own good, and so their hard earned Rands (South African currency) have often been spent on buying music from the international scene. These attitudes combined with the fallacy that dictates that international goods, artists and musicians are always better, more professional, more creative and cooler than their local counterparts, have served to keep the number of exceptional artists, success rate and the general quality of South African music, relatively low.

Above: Syd Kitchen holding a sign displaying the sad state of truly original music in South Africa.

Exceptions (both living and dead) are almost exclusively of two kinds:

1. A truly great and original singer, songwriter or musician (Syd Kitchen springs to mind) who is practically unheard of in South Africa, what to speak of the rest of the world, and receives practically no radio play or public support. If they manage keep on keeping on as professional musicians, they may eke out a living by organizing their own tours, promotion and recordings, while often having to resort to putting on "tribute shows" to famous international artists and performing at private functions, weddings, funerals and the like, or

2. A wholly generic artist or band that sound just like twenty other bands on the international scene, and who get a recording contract, are given radio play and promotion, and who may even manage to sell enough albums to say they have gone gold (20 000 copies in South Africa). These guys, few as they are, can make something of a name for themselves in the country and remain minor local celebs for quite some time without ever really giving anything of substance to the record buying public (I could name quite a few examples here, but new "Hate Speech" laws have just been passed in this country and I wouldn't want to risk a lawsuit)...

It really is quite a sad state of affairs for the genuine music lovers in this country to be honest, who nowadays tend to go deeper and deeper into the alternative international musical waters of the Internet to satisfy their craving for decent, wholesome, good old fashioned music. And so unknowingly perpetuate the problems faced by the artists who fall into category number one.

Music will always be a part of my world, that is without doubt, but the traditional lifestyle of a South African musician is no longer a viable option for me. And now with the internet and specifically this excellent and innovative platform of Steemit, there is opportunity to reach a wider and more discerning audience that is more appreciative of the kind of music we make.

So alongside the more sustainable life we're looking to create, which includes growing our own food and living off the grid, my dream is to build a small recording studio on the land, and maybe even host a mini music festival. I would like to keep writing, recording, performing and sharing music, and it seems that Steemit could provide the perfect place to connect all these aspects of my musical life. Who knows what the future holds, but we can only remain positive, and where there's a will there's a way! Exciting and changing times, keep your ear to the ground...

Thanks for reading friends!
Much love to you all...

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