“Recession is killing live performances, artistes”

The industry that produced ten thousand films in fifteen years is finding it hard in these times of recession. And has such may not be able to do the regular volumes it dishes per week.Ediale Kingsley peeps into other section of the entertainment industry to see the biting effects of the harsh economy. 

Nollywood Suffer:
If there’s any group of Nigerian professionals that will dare to say “We told you not to vote for change”, it will be the entertainers. To be precise, the Nollywood practitioners. However it’s everyone that is feeling the biting teeth of recession.

When Dickson Dike, a budding practitioner in Nollywood, voiced out that his colleagues have turned to gigolos and playboys, it wasn’t unexpected. Dike said: “It’s disturbing how many youths have developed a penchant for being playboys and gigolos. It’s disturbing! I tell you, even in Nollywood.” He went further to put the blame squarely on times “It’s on the increase lately especially with the ongoing economy recession. The impact of the current Nigerian economic downturn on practitioners of the Nigerian movie industry is alarming.” “Many good-looking actors have turned into glorified gigolos sleeping around with rich women and many of these women are married. Imagine that.” He also took time to sermonize “The excuse many of these fine boys give is that ‘boys must survive na’. But what I’m trying to say is that every lifestyle we indulge in will sooner or later tell on us.

There is a repercussion for everything.” “I am from a strong Christian background. I can’t compromise my integrity for money. Think about it. Importantly, I won’t stop insisting that actors should diversify.” “Don’t make yourself ‘sex hawkers’, get industrious. That is one thing I do. I have another business I run. Our industry is not the type that brings a consistent income, so you just must have a backup.”

These industry once known for dishing out movies in outrageous numbers weekly has had to cut down drastically.

Telecoms Shun Brand Ambassadors
Another set of entertainers that have cause to worry is the musicians. Imagine the MTN brand dropping as many as 10 superstars from its roaster a few months back. That single move saw MTN banishingDavido, Don Jazzy, Tiwa Savage, Dr. Sid, Sound Sultan, Banky W, Kcee, Harrysong and others as brand ambassadors all at once, and they’ve not been signed on by other brands which is very weird. A few years ago, competing brands will be struggling to get the dropped stars on board. Guess the grass is not greener anywhere.

Performing for free or less:
Many relatively unknown Nigerian artists especially gospel artists could easily charge N500, 000 N1, 000,000 to perform at big gigs until the beginning of this year.

They’ve since noticed that most dignitaries won’t even pay that for B-list artists anymore, not to talk of fortunate upcoming Artists. Artists who were receiving nothing less than N3 million last year, are now being asked to perform for N1 million now or worse, for free.

Seeking Greener Pastures By Tour Or By Collaboration:
Nigeria’s most buzzing artists are hardly seen in Nigeria these days. They’ve probably planned for the future I mean no one wants to jump into a burning bush or a troubled home.

Davido signed a $1 million global record deal with Sony Music Global in January, and was working with artists like Young Thug and Tinashe recently. Olamide is on a foreign tour which might go on for a while, and Wizkid has been busy since last year from featuring Drake on Ojuelegba remix to being on Major Lazer’s to being on R. Kelly’s album to being on Drake’s album, Views (2016) to starting his Starboy World Tour this year. Tiwa Savage recently signed a managerial deal with ROC Nation and is on her US tour, The RED tour.

Even other A-List artists like Patoranking are looking into their markets in Southern Africa and East Africa, while Tekno is also looking into the East African market.

But The Clubs Are Still Banging:
Artiste manager, SotuminuOlasile says that recession is a mere word because night clubs in Lagos still sell out, ‘I really don’t see recession affecting the entertainment industry. Shows are been held, artists perform regularly and they get paid, some even charge higher fees. Quilox and Escape night clubs are booming, so I think recession is just a word in our heads, ‘he said.

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We May Witness The Death Of Live Performance:
According to a show promoter, MarvellousOgenyi, the present situation if left unchecked, could lead to the dearth of live performances at many social gatherings.

Though he said talented musicians would still get patronage no matter how bad the economy is, Ogenyi reckons that dozens in the industry were being badly affected by the present situation.

Esther Igbekele, a household name in the gospel music scene, the experience of recent months has been extremely terrible.

The artiste, who is a regular at most church events and other social ceremonies as well, said that many of her band members have taken to other vocations to make ends meet as a result of the low demand for their services these days.

“Like many Nigerians, those of us in the music industry are also feeling the pain created by this economy. The truth is that the way churches used to appreciate us before has changed. There are many churches that want us to come and perform but are not able to meet up with the financial aspect anymore as a result of dwindling income like offerings and tithes from members. Before, we charged at least N800, 000 to perform at some of these places but today, people only offer you around N150, 000. How do you cope with your band and transportation of musical instruments?

“The present situation is even affecting pastors as well. I usually collect cash to perform at any show, but recently I performed at four church events and collected cheques, simply because the pastors told me they didn’t have cash. When I got to the bank to cash the cheques, they bounced.

“Apart from church events, playing at parties these days is not as lucrative as it used to be. In the past, I could get up to N200, 000 in addition to the performance fee, but now at such gatherings I’ll be lucky to go away with N20, 000. This has affected my band members. If I tell them I have shows these days, hardly will I see them and I cannot blame them. They tell me they are looking for other means to survive,” she said.