The SABC & 90% : Great For South Africa, Bad For Everyone Else
by Phil Chard
Earlier this week Vuzu sat down with Nigerian artist Ice Prince while he was in South Africa for a brief interview. During the chat, Dash asked what Ice Prince thought of the new 90% rule implemented by Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the SABC. Unsurprisingly, Ice Prince was totally against the notion and then tried to use a poorly constructed argument centred around the fact that even Mandela needed to work with the rest of world to succeed and gain recognition as one of Africa's most recognisable faces against oppression.
The interview ended and cameras crossed back to the V Entertainment studio where the show's anchor host DJ Speedsta expressed how much he disagreed with Ice Prince’s sentiments.
From my vantage point, both artists are right, but for very selfishly motivated reasons. The SABC's new mandate, though progressive, also has a number of negative implications that extend beyond South Africa's borders.
The Benefits of 90%
The benefits of this new mandate are very obvious and I have yet to hear a reasonable argument as to how this will negatively impact South Africa's music industry. First and foremost, the SABC is a state broadcaster that theoretically receives its annual cash stimulus from tax paying (TV licence bearing) citizens. Therefore their first mandate is to reflect the interests of the people who pay for their services and those of the South African government at large. The SABC's main focus should be to create a viable platform that helps develop, nurture, and grow the various arts industries in South Africa that allow for economic growth and job creation.
By ensuring that 90% local music is played the SABC will be addressing its mandate in several ways. Along with this new guideline Mr. Motsoeneng has also implemented a number of revolutionary changes. Previously, the SABC would pay out performance and needle time royalties at a rate of 3% of revenue. This has now been increased to 4%, with payments owed to artists at this new rate being backdated to 2006. This is an incredibly significant change that will have an immediate effect on the industry. Artists and performers will not only see an increased pay out but also increased opportunity to receive those payments via air play. The positive effects on the creative economy will be significant. In 2013 The South African creative industry contributed to 3% of the nation’s GDP. Yet over $100,000,000 was paid out to foreign artists due to needle time royalties. It is also important to note that American artists do not receive needle time royalties from American terrestrial radio stations. So every year South Africa was allowing $100,000,000 to leave its country to benefit foreign artists who were not receiving these pay-outs from their own collection societies.
Hlaudi Motsoeneng (centre) at the 2016 SAMAs. Image courtesy of The SAMAs
South Africa's record industry and radio stations also have a long standing history with prioritising foreign music favour at the expense of local production. This is due to a number of issues but the most obvious of reasons is the cost analysis that goes into this decision. International artists and their music arrive on South African shores backed by massive campaigns riding on the coat tails created by decades of marketing efforts from international record labels. Therefore it would cost a local record label more to promote Kwesta's album, for example, than it would to promote Drake's album. This creates the false perception that Drake is in fact a better artist than any other South African artist because of the pervasive marketing, and as a result, his music is more likely to sell. In essence, it would cost a South African based label less money to promote and sell 50,000 copies of an international artist’s record when compared to achieving the same numbers for a South African act. Also, because his music sells more in a number of international locations, Drake will then earn more money. This will allow him to spend more time and money investing in his craft and promotion and thus the gap between him and any South African artists also increases.
Listen to the AHHB Podcast where I discussed the SABC's 90% mandate with Wiseman Ngubo
The same principle applies to radio. A commercial radio playlist manager’s first priority is to protect his job. In order to do this he needs to ensure that as many people as possible are listening to the radio at all times. Using the previous example, if Drake's music is deemed to be better and is enjoying a better marketing effort, listeners will follow suit and will prefer to hear music from an artist they are familiar with over a local artist they do not know, even if his music is good. This is why several radio stations in South Africa routinely failed to meet even the 30% local content mandate.
In behavioural psychology there is a theory known as the “Mere Exposure Effect” that is widely used in marketing and radio. The principle of this theory states;
The more exposure we have to a stimulus, the more we will tend to like it. Familiarity breeds liking more than contempt. Things grow on us and we acquire tastes for things over time and repeated exposure.
The "mere exposure effect" is why you'll unwittingly find yourself singing a song you once hated, word for word. Coupled with the marketing efforts and similar play listing methods being adopted on the majority of radio and TV stations, a radio playlist manager or committee is taking less of a risk when he/they decide to play the new Taylor Swift song 20 times a day, because he/they have taken the calculated risk that you are already familiar with her brand because she is on the majority of TV stations, her face is on billboards and other radio stations are playing her music.
Record Industry In Numbers 2015 Reports on South African Music Sales
Implementing the new 90% rule will ensure that radio music managers stop relying on old and lazy methods to deliver content and force them to prioritise local music first.
The image above is taken from the Record Industry in Numbers report for 2015 on South Africa. The two lists represent the respective singles and albums that we purchased the most during 2015. The fact that Black Coffee, Zahara and Steve Hofmeyr (even typing his name makes me squirm) are the only South African acts being represented is a sign of a massive trade deficit with regards to music economy. South Africa is consuming a large amount of foreign music but how much of South African music is being consumed outside of its borders that will translate into direct revenue for artists and the industry?
Implementing the new 90% rule will ensure that radio music managers stop relying on old and lazy methods to deliver content and force them to prioritise local music first. Over time it will lead to better music being made and more artists getting a chance to be heard on radio. This will create more potential revenue, which will create more jobs, more jobs means more professionals in music, which creates more competition and thus better music and so on and so forth.
Granted the naysayers will undoubtedly raise questions about the quality or demand for South African Music. As an observer I can definitively say that the demand for the music is there, especially among the youth. The turn out and response South African artists received at events Back To The City, Major League Gardens and Fill Up The Dome is a clear example of the demand South African Music fans have not only for SA music, but for SA Hip Hop and Urban music.
So Why Is The Rest Of Africa Nervous?
As a Zimbabwean who’s personally witnessed the 70% local content policy that the then Minister of Arts & Culture, Mr. Jonathan Moyo implemented in the early 2000's I've seen the incredible benefits such legislation will have on the creative economy.
Also, as a non-South African, I see the negative impact this law might have on African music and how it may limit how much of the continent African artists may reach going forward. A few years ago I decided to get back into the music and entertainment industry after taking a step back to focus on my "career". Upon my return I became very aware of the massive hurdles African artists not from South Africa or Nigeria, particularly smaller nations, have to encounter if they are to get any exposure on international platforms. The issue lies within the fact that South Africa has become the media capital of the continent. Multichoice (DStv), Mnet (Channel O, Vuzu), Viacom (MTV), and Trace are all headquartered in Johannesburg. Most of these stations have satellite offices in Nigeria but due to a number of issues (mainly corruption) these offices rarely accept submissions for music videos. This is why over the last 2 years an increasing number of African artists have begun shooting their videos in South Africa with South African production houses. With all these headquarters literally on their doorsteps, South African artists and their affiliates are at an advantage when it comes to getting their content play listed because they can easily build relationships with the gatekeepers. As a result of this South African artists had easy and direct access to the millions of viewers of these music videos stations. This then helps translate into more bookings across the continent which feeds into the positive economic cycle I mentioned above. A by-product of this expanding creative economy helped create an environment where South African video directors were also able to master their craft faster due to a higher workload.
When African artists come to shoot a video in South Africa or with a South African director it is to satisfy three main objectives.
Cut down on cost and work with best possible directors who have competitive rates.
Work with directors who have a strong brand name and relationships with satellite TV stations that can help ensure the video gets play listed.
To do as many press, radio and TV interviews as possible.
While investigating how artists can get their videos on TV I spoke to a number of publicists, artists, managers and several people who are responsible for which videos get played on a number of channels. The consensus amongst all these people was that if a video is to get played it must meet the following criteria;
The song and video have to be good. ( Working with a popular artist and director also help score you points)
The artist has to be popular not only in their home country but also have brand recognition in South Africa (providing actual evidence of popularity via social media numbers, press clippings, and performances is key. The artist needs to be known amongst South African viewers)
The song has to be charting in their artist's home country and also has to be enjoying some form of play on South African radio. (Since most African nations do not have official charts or radio spin monitoring services, those in charge of green lighting videos rely heavily on services like Entertainment Monitoring Africa which tracks radio spins monthly. Sadly this service focuses mainly on South Africa.
L-Tido & Sarkodie on the set for Sakodie's Pon D Ting video shot in Johannesburg . Image credit Ts'eliso Monaheng
When you review these steps you can see how slanted the scales are for African artists. Granted, artists from larger markets, or where these stations have representation, may not need to satisfy all these requirements, but the fact that artists like Ice Prince, Diamond Platnumz, Don Jazzy and Sarkodie have been shooting a number of videos in South Africa and pushing their brand awareness in this territory is a little more than a convenient coincidence. Anyone with a satellite subscription can easily see this pattern on Channel O, MTV Base or Trace Africa. The majority of the content is from Nigeria and South Africa with the rest of the continent fighting over whatever is left.
With their new mandate the SABC has declared that artists from the rest of the continent need to turn to privately owned radio and TV as a platform to help promote themselves in South Africa. The remaining 10% of air time available for artists has to be divvied amongst African and International artists. That means artists can no longer look to stations like Metro FM to get the platform to reach South African fans that they once did. It also means African artists may no longer be able to rely on platforms like LiveAmp and Urban Music Experience to gain exposure.
Sure, the internet is the great equaliser and all that jazz but traditional media still runs the coup and the immediate impact having a music video played on TV is still extremely significant.
It is about time we also banded together and pushed for a 90% African content rule across the board.
With such a heavy reliance on how an artist is resonating on South African media platforms the onus now falls on Satellite TV and their content manager to adjust their parameters for selecting submissions to be far more inclusive. Consumers in the nations that need more representation need to be more active and remind these stations that they have a mandate to represent the interest of all their paying subscribers. Even though stations like MTV Base and, previously, Channel O had split their feeds to accommodate for regional audiences, there are still issues with representation of content. I am also ardently against splitting a feed for channels that are meant to be serving the whole continent; the opportunity to discover new content in such a walled garden is extremely limited.
Ultimately the difference between a private and public institution is also at play here. The SABC (public) is trying to build a culture and economy first, then make money. Private broadcasters are focused on the bottom line and the bottom line alone. They really couldn't care less about advancing a culture unless it coincides with their primary objective. However, both public and private broadcasters are beholden to the desires and demand of their consumers. It is about time we also banded together and pushed for a 90% African content rule across the board.