With the Covid-19 pandemic still around and concerts or shows remaining banned at least for the foreseeable future, Rwandan creatives find themselves left with not so many options but to tap into global digital platforms to monetize their work.
Unless you are lined up to perform at Iwacu Muzika festival as Bruce Melodie did over the weekend, chances of getting a performing gig or organising an exhibition for visual artists or other talents, will remain limited for the remaining part of the year, or even next year, depending on how the virus evolves.
With physical events seemingly out of reach in the short term, creatives in Rwanda will look to maximize on digital platforms such as Apple music, Spotify and YouTube, among other platforms which pay for content, to be able to make some money off their craft.
Lee Ndayisaba, the CEO of Cloud9 Entertainment and manager of singer Bruce Melodie, says with or without the pandemic, digital is the way to go, much as it alone cannot sustain the industry.
"Digital is where the world is heading, Covid-19 or no Covid-19. Embracing it is inevitable. However, as the pandemic eases in different corners of the world and more people get vaccinated, we are doing a targeted world tour in those countries,”
"Digital only cannot sustain the music business for now, it can only be a way to hang on, while we look beyond the pandemic,” Ndayisaba says.
The ‘Katapilla’ singer is set to hold a series of concerts on the continent, in the Middle East and Europe towards the end of the year, with the hope that the pandemic will have subsided by then. The Dubai show is already confirmed for December 30, 2021.
Singer Austin Tosh Luwano, known by the stage name Uncle Austin, believes that while digital is the way to go, it cannot entirely salvage the local creative industry, simply because majority of Rwandans are yet to migrate to digital platforms.
"Our biggest music consumers are not yet on these digital platforms,” says Uncle Austin, emphasizing how traditional methods of monetizing content will remain relevant for Rwandan creatives until the country transitions into a digital economy.
Appearing on the Square Rwanda, a weekly show which airs on Rwanda Television every Wednesday, rapper Kivumbi King said that creatives being on digital platforms is inevitable for creatives -the pandemic only highlighted the importance of being on them.
"It has always been vital to have these platforms even before the pandemic because it is a way to get an audience that is not based only in Rwanda, but rather global,” Kivumbi said, emphasizing why artistes should embrace digital platforms to market their products.
The ‘Away’ rapper said that the Covid-19 pandemic made it clearer and more visible that sometimes ways through which people make income can go away in a blink of an eye and they have to adapt to new ways.
Highlighting the advantages of marketing art on global platforms like Spotify, Kivumbi said digital platforms give creatives and artistes unlimited opportunities and independence to reach more people and compete at the global level, depending on the quality of what you do.
Kivumbi cited his own work, which he said earned a bigger audience and more revenues since the Covid-19 outbreak on platforms like Spotify and Apple music.
"Yes, there is a difference in terms of revenues because the audience keeps growing, you know and if you keep working the audience also keeps growing and with that comes like views and streams,” Kivumbi said, adding that YouTube is not the most rewarding to artistes as many people think, compared to other platforms.
According to Hope Azeda, the founder and artistic director of Mashirika Performing Arts and Media Company, Rwandan creatives need to think beyond Rwanda borders because audiences have become global as the world becomes a small village
"We need to think beyond home. We need to think global, also in terms of standards. What kind of music does your audience want?” Azeda says, adding that creatives need to have an identity that makes them stand out and different from others, citing Kivumbi as an example of an artist uniquely defining himself and building a network.
Azeda argues that collaborations and building networks is very crucial for members of the creative industry and another form of capital because it helps you grow bigger, creates jobs and expands one’s audience.
Bill Christophe Nyirimihigo, the Project Officer of Art-Rwanda Ubuhanzi, advised artistes to diversify their portfolios and streams of income because not only has the pandemic showed that the situation can change anytime, affecting main sources of income
"You have to be able to adapt, you have to diversify your streams of income, your appearances, whether it's online, whether it's acoustic or any other platforms that you can use. Diversifying your audience will give you a better chance to succeed,” Nyirimihigo argued.
Last year, the Government, through the Ministry of Youth and Culture and Imbuto Foundation’s Art-Rwanda Ubuhanzi, together with different partners rolled out the Cultural and Creative Art recovery grant fund worth Rwf300m but it has not been enough to sustain the industry as the Covid-19 pandemic persists.
An economic outlook report published by UNESCO in June this year showed that the cultural and creative industries have fared consistently worse than national economies overall.
It is estimated that they contracted by US $750 billion in gross value added in 2020, while job losses in this field are estimated conservatively at 10 million worldwide, suggesting a rapid drop in employment that is profoundly affecting the livelihoods of creative workers, especially freelancers who are experiencing higher levels of income loss and unemployment.
The report features examples of digital innovations launched in response to this unprecedented crisis and showcases how the digital adaptation underway in most of the cultural and creative industries has triggered the development of new production, distribution and consumption patterns.