Theresa Ng’ambi who is a Lusaka based folk music Queen took to social media Facebook live video to be precise, to rant on artists hidden costs clients overlook.
First and foremost Theresa Ng’ambi said that clients consider talking to the artist manager because it is the duty of a manager to talk to the client on issues of the artists. Close friends and family members should talk to the manager when it comes to business issues. She maintained that, separating the artist from the manager is not good because artists also have other things to look at such as the team members at the same time being creative.
Secondly according to her , clients should understand that artist need decent paychecks . Negotiations of cost when booking the artist should be fair because artists have a lot to cover up when they are hired. Artists need to pay auxiliary workers such as the band ( if the band is live), sound engineers as well as content creators . She further added that artists need money for makeup, costume and to hire a quality sound system in a case where a client has no sound system.
She further notes that clients should consult on the type of an artist they want to hire . For example, an artist doing live music will need a system different from one just lip syncing. Live music performances require a band and a proper sound system to help the artists have the best of their set and for such to be archived a good paycheck is needed. The gender of the artists is another factor to considered when hiring an artist. For instance, a female artist would require things like makeup and performance costume which too require money.
Theresa went on to say client have to consider giving artists decent places to change their costumes and a mare restroom.
The folk music Queen also talked about lack of support from the general Zambian populace. She said that Zambian are not supportive citing an example to artist websites and other sites such as Mvesesani where music is purchased online. She lamented to say music fans don’t visit artists websites and only a few buy music on Mvesesani which is disappointing to artist after so much work they put in ( giving reference to herself and the numbers she gets on the platform).
In a nutshell, she said that clients should stop disrespecting and devaluing artists skills and efforts and instead trust the artists and the team they are working with when quotations are brought forth.
Check her Facebook page for the video.