Lesson of the week (Pick up the phone)

I'm sure you are familiar with his journey and how long it took me to start looking outside of South Africa (for opportunities). When I started out I was being told by record label execs, small time producers, people with no industry knowledge, radio presenters and their grandmothers that I couldn't do it. I'm a middle child, proving people wrong is what I do for fun, so none of that BS got to me. My manager (and everything) Marcee eventually got tired of hitting her head against a brick wall and decided to approach radio stations outside of South Africa.

Immediately we were struck by how open and accepting they were of the music. Not because the music was shoddy but because rejection had become the norm. So Marcee got music playlisted in 36 countries. At this point we thought it was safe to try at home again. We sent out CDs and every time Marcee made the follow up calls, she got excuses about the CDs never arriving or a million other excuses as to why they hadn't listened to the songs.

This morning I was so fed up with how difficult it was becoming, so I decided to call the 'culprits'. I don't feel entitled to airplay in SA, but expecting to be treated is something I do think I deserve. By the time I had gone through all the phone calls I realised how tough it is in some regions (for SABC radio stations). One music compiler told me that the post office is far away from where they are. They have to go pick the packages up themselves and they don't even get all of them most times. Another didn't even have access to email. They were all really patient with me as we worked out systems that would ensure that the music arrived when it was supposed to arrive. Until I had spoken to these compilers I really had no idea how 'broken' the systems in place are. It put the entire (South African) music industry into perspective for me.

Lesson of the week: Don't get mad. Pick up the phone and find how YOU can make the situation better. Sometimes that's all it takes.