For some time now industry stakeholders have been trying to promote the 80/20 concept with CY being the main Voice .For over 3 years now we haven’t witnessed any significant progress as Cameroonians still Consume 90% Foreign and 10 Person Local . Before we talk about how this policy can work , let’s first look at why it’s failing .
It is Championed by Someone who knows little or Nothing about Music Business. CY might be a good comedian and a good event organizer but he lacks knowledge about how the music business works . He hasn’t studied the music market to understand what is demanded and how to promote our music to reach other countries.
Entitlement. Cameroonians and Cameroonian Artistes feel like the whole world owes them . They feel like the world revolves around them and they are special . When other countries are working to promote and push their content , we say “ If it’s good , it will go viral “ . No matter how good a product is , if it’s not marketed and distributed well, the sales will still be low .
Inconsistency . Cameroonian artistes can drop 2 songs a year and announce an album for 4 years and it loads for 2 years . When it’s at 99% it can still load for 9 months .When our artistes are inconsistent, the population will always look for substitutes elsewhere and that’s foreign content . The population can’t listen to 2 songs a year . They get tired and look for music elsewhere.
Quality . We might all deny but few Cameroonians drop good music . If we truly want to consume local music then the Quality must be very high . These things makes 80/20 to fail
We Can Make 80/20 work by
PRODUCING THE BEST OR HIGHEST QUALITY. There is a level that when you reach , you become irresistible. Music is the first product of our artistes ,if the Quality is the best or highest Quality ,the world will notice it and give it the attention it deserves . If we keep producing something lower than the standards other countries have set , then there is no hope for us . We can emotionally blackmail people that our music is the best when we know deep inside that it’s not. It won’t help so let’s focus on making it big then we will become bigger and better .
CONSISTENCY . 80/20 can never work without Consistency . If we want 80/20 to work , we must be very consistent . Our artistes must release enough music for the population to Consume . Consistency shouldn’t lead to a drop in the Quality of music we Produced .
Give Certified People the chance to champion this course . Someone like Wax Dey has studied music business and have almost every knowledge about it and will know how to handle stuffs like this better .80/20 is bigger than a Facebook talk , it needs the services of someone who knows what is to be done and how it should be done . Let’s give people who are Qualified the opportunity to champion a course like this one .
Marketing and Distribution. Some times we blame other countries for not playing our music but the funny thing is same artistes are not even known in the entire CAMEROON . Artistes need to take their music to the markets where they want to sell . Good products won’t promote themselves . We must promote and distribute our music well so it can reach the desired audience.
We can’t forbid people from consuming foreign products but we can give them something better than foreign Products.That’s where best or highest Quality come in . People will switch if they see better .
