OVERVIEW OF THE LIBERIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY: COURSE 101

The lack of earning adequate royalties from streaming is pushing top Liberian artistes to target other markets where streaming is more commonplace.

On the fifth of June 2020, various Liberian blogs ran a story of Liberian rapper, Chiller Coolnanee, appealing to the public for donations, as he couldn’t afford to pay his rent, amongst other issues. However, his situation isn’t unprecedented. In 2019, A-list rapper, Christoph The Change, was in a similar position. While there are different takes on this recurring phenomenon, it can be said that the current Liberian music structure cannot adequately take care of its practitioners.

The current modus operandi for most artistes in Liberia is to: make music > distribute on Audio Mack and free local platforms for free downloads > promote > and if the song gains traction, the artiste then makes money from performances at shows, or leverage’s popularity for endorsements, etc. However, this current method poses some problems.

Firstly, the current system makes it hard for niche artistes or artistes with mild popularity to earn. Secondly, non-performing artistes are not sustained within the current system. Lastly, the numbers of downloads from free sites and non-regulated sources on the internet are usually not recorded, and are not subject to royalties.  But what are royalties?

ROYALTIES

 Music is property, and is legally classed as intellectual property. Thus, one ought to make profit/gain from the use of his/her property. Music royalties are payments made to songwriters, producers, composers, recording artists, and other copyrights holders in exchange for the licensed use of their music. When you monetize your music, you are to be paid royalties from the sales, streams, and use of your work (this includes the use of music by DJs at clubs and plays on radio). Royalties apply not only to the artiste, but to producers, songwriters, etc. 

The Echo conducted a  survey which found that more than 70 percent of Liberian music listeners (the survey was dominated by, but not exclusive to listeners resident in Liberia) who filled the survey got their music through free downloads from local sites that serve as distribution hubs on the internet, but these downloads are not subject to any form of payments. 

The survey also found that the most used digital streaming service for Liberian music listeners resident in Liberia is Audiomack. However, Audiomack is ad-driven, and not based exclusively on subscription. Thus, users can stream music on Audiomack for free, or they can become paid subscribers if they want to stream without ads. However, free users dominate Audiomack Streams. Also, Audiomack only pays royalties on master recordings, and only pays to the few that can verify their accounts. Additionally, Audiomack pays 0.00034615usd per stream, which is one of the lowest rates in the digital streaming platform industry. 

THE ARTISTE

While it can be said that Liberian music listeners need to develop a culture of paying for music, it is noteworthy that 95 percent of people who took the survey said they were open to paying for their music. The artiste is not exempt from blame as to the current state of the system. It is quite common to see artistes releasing music exclusively on free internet platforms for free downloads, with Audiomack being a recent exception. It is also not unpopular to see artistes sharing music on Whatsapp and Bluetooth.

The lack of earning adequate royalties from streaming is pushing top Liberian artistes to target other markets where streaming is more commonplace. There is also a push by Liberian artistes to appeal to the Liberian community abroad so as to increase their streaming numbers. A perfect example is rapper Bucky Raw who had a sizable American fan base before relocating to Liberia. His international fan base has helped to push his streaming numbers and revenue.

THE WAY FORWARD

On the average, top tier A-list artistes in Liberia earn around 700-1000usd for a big show in Liberia (these shows aren’t commonplace). Added with a lack of structure in generating royalties from the Liberian audience, it can be seen that the average artiste in Liberia doesn’t earn as much.  

There have been calls by artistes for government investment, but one should note that increased government investment comes with increased government regulations for the music industry. However, the government should increase internet penetration to increase access to music. The laws governing intellectual property also need to be made more adequate. There is still a need to enact and to set adequate precedents of local intellectual property law.

Going forward, the Liberian music industry must build structures and institutions for the Liberian music industry. The structures that are needed include structures around Music distribution, Music publishing, and collecting societies. The Liberian music system must be restructured to reward artistes for their art. If it isn’t restructured, we might need to donate to more gofundme’s.

Subscribe as we take you on a journey through the Liberian music industry and its practitioners. Also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram