The Rwandan music industry has radically changed in the last decade. It metamorphosed into vitality, attracted more refined artistes and diversified genres, but still faces many challenges clogging the wheel of its progress. According to Rolling Stone, Covid-19 turned live streaming, once an idea that was widely balked at and discarded as a cheap thrill, into the fastest-growing ecosystem in music. With shows canceled and with nowhere else to engage with fans, artistes around the world used livestreaming to earn millions of dollars while Rwandan artistes are still struggling to make a living. Here is our take on what we think are the biggest problems faced by our music industry. Lack of regulatory framework According to the industry players, the Government has not really shown the necessary attention and support by enacting laws and executing them to keep the industry in good shape. In an interview with The New Times, Noopja, founder of Country Records, said that the government should show necessary will to support music the same way it is promoting other sectors such as tourism, agriculture. He said that the government’s involvement in music will attract more investors to invest in artistes and other events related to the industry that can provide income to musicians. Citing Afro beats music as an example, Noopja said that that the Nigerian government invested billions of naira in the music industry and facilitated Nigerian musicians in the diaspora to do homecoming concerts and return to Nigeria, a move that made the industry’s revenue grow from 26 million US dollars in 2014 to 34 million dollars in 2018. Today, Afro beats is one of the leading music genres that represents African culture and attracts millions of tourists on the African continent. The Rwandan music industry can raise the same revenue and provide thousands of jobs in the country if the government puts efforts in uplifting it. Majority of Rwandan artistes earn peanuts Rwandan musicians have fame without money and it’s mostly seen with upcoming artistes. Since the outbreak of covid-19, dozens of young talented musicians rose to stardom after making back to back hits but are still struggling to earn stable incomes. According to Clement Ishimwe, a music producer and founder of Kina music, the biggest challenge musician’s face is generating income from what they do. This, he said, made so many talented singers, producers, instrumentalists and other key players in the music industry quit. “Music has grown in terms of quality and quantity of the products artistes are releasing but not in terms of income. There are no big endorsement deals and artistes are not paid well for performing”. “There is still no serious royalty collection system,” said Clement, the producer who managed top musicians in the country like Tom Close, Knowless, Dream Boys, Christopher and many others. Absence of strong management lines and record labels Despite rising at a good pace but the local music industry has failed to establish more management lines and record labels that can give new and better streams of income to artistes. Besides talent, a musician needs record label deals- contract or agreement of management signed between an artistes and a music house- to broaden their consumer base, market and distribute their projects as well as promote their singles and albums on streaming platforms. The absence of strong record labels and management lines in Rwanda is the reason why artistes, especially newcomers, are regularly faced with contractual issues like the Kenny Sol saga which pointed out one among thousands of difficulties faced by Rwandan musicians on the rise. The same issue has in the pastled to the downfall of promising artistes. More record labels are needed to save the industry and shape young musicians to compete with big stars globally. Lack of enough music facilities Rwanda’s creative industry has experienced a rapid revolution that has seen the dispatching of many players in the industry, thanks to the only Nyundo School of Arts and Music which shaped some of the top artistes on the scene at the moment. The existence of this school blessed the Rwandan music industry with some of the best instrumentalists, producers, artistes and many others that are driving the industry in shape, a move that indicates how more can be achieved if other music facilities are created in the country. Artists like Yverry, Adolphe, Igor Mabano, Symphony Band, Ignace Kalinijabo, Imirasire Band, Sebeya Band, Neema Rehema, Favor, Yvanny, Groovy Band graduated from Nyundo music school and contributed to the rise of live music in the country. More programs in schools like sound engineering and song composition can also help the industry and bless Rwanda with more refined musicians. Drug abuse Drug addiction is the cancer eating up Rwandan musicians especially newcomers. In Rwanda, some artistes are slowly heading down the destructive road of drug abuse and ending their careers behind bars. At least 50 musicians including renowned rappers have been to Gikondo Transit Centre and later taken to Iwawa Rehabilitation Centre. Capable musicians with a promising future eventually disappear from the limelight and lose big contracts. Without drug abuse among artistes, genres like hip hop would be at the top and Rwandan rappers, drillers wouldn’t be disappearing after making one hit. Drugs remain a problem not only among Rwandan artistes, but everywhere in the world.
