I am a South African Singer/Songwriter and Actress who believes strongly in my future as an artiste. But unfortunately, my hope for success in South Africa is fading fast. After returning home once I had spent 4 years in London, my optimism was at its peak. In my mind, our country was on its way up and I believed that there was a place for me in this beautiful land I call home. Fast forward 6 years and the many challenges we have faced as a society, and my hope seems to have gone.

So this is how it went down: I spent 2 ½ years recording my first album independently in Cape Town, a struggle that I took pleasure in and am proud of. I was doing live gigs in the Cape for that time and began to feel that maybe the Cape Town crowd were too laid back to make the effort to find and listen to new local talent. At the time the economy was doing very well and the R20 – R30 cover charge for my shows was not a lot to ask for the entertainment offered. Still I could not seem to build a following or a loyal fan base. It seemed as though the public were not very interested in what SA Musicians were doing and that they would rather buy overseas product that they knew they could trust.

So I moved to Johannesburg, in search of a more vibrant culture that would welcome  young, promising musical talent. After signing a 3 album record deal, a manager and booking agent, I thought I was on the right track. Fast forward another 2 years, a weakening economy, a sense of fear in my fellow citizens, power failures, petrol hikes and a knowledge that we are shortly going to be led by a man very few of us could even try to respect, and I am once again planning to move to greener pastures.

The funny thing is, I have always been one of those people who is super-positive about our country. When other people complained about the state of things, I would tell them to get out if they didn’t have the balls to fight the fight together. Now, I hear those very people speaking through my mouth. I can hear myself becoming more and more negative and think I should take my own advice and leave if I am so unhappy.

Of course I could try my luck in the Afrikaans market, but this is why I don’t: The Afrikaans people buy Afrikaans music out of identity and loyalty and when an English artiste tries to take advantage of this thriving market, they can see it from a mile away. It would be a sell-out that I don’t think would even work anyway. Local White English people seem to have no identity at all, including myself. So they have no affiliation to local music, no sense of responsibility to the future of English Music in this country. And this is especially true in the older market.

When you compare CD Sales of the Afrikaans and English local industry you will blatantly see the reality. Whereas a top Afrikaans Musician can look forward to sales of around 125 000 albums, an English recording artiste can only hope for a maximum amount of sales at around 25 000 copies and usually only about 8 000. Now, when looking at the demographics of South Africa, there is no reason why there should be such a vast difference in sales.

So here is the problem; South Africa is the leader and one of the only countries in the world to produce Afrikaans music and because there is so much international English Product, South Africans don’t even bother to find local English music, they have enough to choose from with imported products.

Now this is of course understandable, but I want to point out that this is not because there is no talent in South Africa, it is just because the public are not interested to find out what we do have on our own shores. There is no trust in local songwriters/musicians and producers. Now we are in a catch 22. Without the finances to create top international recordings and without a booming market that will encourage talented artistes, we are going no where. I know musicians who are of world class standard working side-line jobs just to pay the rent. Musicians who have been struggling for 10 years without any reward. Not because they are not good enough and not because they are typically lazy musos, but because the industry is stagnant, going nowhere!

Internationally too, due to piracy and downloads, CD Sales are down and across the globe artistes are being dropped from their labels. But, and this is a big BUT, the top artistes are still making millions and reaching millions with their music.

Now back in South Africa, and the same story unfolds. Low CD sales are our problem too, but even the top artists in this country can’t pay their bills. Why is this?

Well, there are a few reasons: One is that record labels make a lot of promises to young artistes about what they can do for them if they sign record deals, even though these companies know that in the current market there is no way they can justify spending R500 000 on a TV campaign when there is no hope of making there money back through Sales. So why do they do it? Two is that the general public see music as an extravagance, forgetting that music is the soundtrack to our lives and that music has had an impact on societies around the world since the beginning of time. The general South African English person has no sense of culture and as I said before, no identity. The third reason that English artistes don’t make money is because generally, the venues and their owners have absolutely no respect for musicians. The average band is earning the same for gigs as they did 5-10 years ago if not less. I personally have been treated so badly by some of these venues and have a houndred stories to tell about how they left me feeling worthless and abused. And finally our media has a huge role to play in the success of local talent. From radio stations to television to print media there seems to be no effort in nurturing and exposing new local talent. The media industry could definitely benefit from more local celebrities but they don’t like the risks involved, so they stick to promoting foreign artists. There is just no support from the media.

So where to form here?: This is the question being asked by all South Africans I guess. But as a singer/songwriter even more so. The market is shrinking as English South Africans move abroad and I have begun to think that I would be more welcome in another country and would have a much better chance at success in the US, Australia or Canada, even though the competition would be greater there.  It is very sad for me to accept that my home is not my home anymore.

Unless there is a shift in thinking by the public, media and venue owners we are going to lose all our major talent in South Africa and will be left without the much needed outlet of music at this difficult time in our countries history. With a conscious effort from all sides this could be rectified. I truly hope that something will change in the next couple years and that people will realize that the message that local songwriters are sending out is a direct voice from the people. We need to encourage and nurture our cultural talents, they are a very important element to our society and success. Don’t neglect them or they will be forced to neglect South Africa, and what a tragedy that would be.