AFRICAN MUSIC HAS THE POTENTIAL TO ENTER THE BRITISH MAINSTREAM

Frances Black – Projects Abroad

Despite the skill and hard work of a numerous number of musicians in Ghana, it appears that many are finding it very difficult to break into the vast and lucrative European and American music market, regardless of their current success in Africa. The American and European market has always been notoriously difficult to penetrate, with often very narrow criteria for what is generally successful. Although African pop music is very popular in Britain among the African disapora, with artists like P-Square, for example, selling out venues to almost exclusively Nigerians living in Britain, it appears that there is a barrier for some artists who wish not only to be recognised by Africans living in Britain, but who also want to be successful among the non-African community.

World Music is extremely successful in Britain, with a huge audience listening to Salif Keita, Baaba Maal, Youssou N’Dour and many others, who instead of playing to the African disapora in Britain, actually play largely to white, middle-class crowds; however, this kind of music bears few similarities with the music that is actually currently popular among Africans in both Africa and Britain, as it is carefully tailored and produced to appeal to white audiences who are looking for what they believe to be more authentic African music, which does not contain influences from Western contemporary pop. This audience is looking for what they perceive to represent a more traditional, ‘real’ form of African music, while those in London’s African communities are listening instead to artists that most world music fans would be completely unaware of, such as Koffi Olomide from the Congo, or King Wasiu Ayinde from Nigeria. As a result it is clear that there is a divide between what is popular among white Europeans, and what is popular among Africans living in Britain and in Africa, despite the former wanting to experience what they perceive to be real African music.

           

As previously mentioned, although many African artists do have a standing in Britain among the African communities, this is not satisfactory for many, as a large number want to branch out from the African population and to appeal to white and non-African people living in Britain and Europe. Many artists reject the marketing used for some African artists coming to England, for example in the case of P-Square, where he is only marketed to the Nigerian community through Nigerian press and radio, without trying to reach out to the mainstream media, as ticket sales are guaranteed from the Nigerian population so those in charge feel it is unnecessary to market more broadly. It appears that this is where the problem lies for many African artists who wish to become popular in Europe: they only receive press and publication from the African community in general, rather than from the rest of Europe’s population.

There are many people in Britain and the rest of Europe who would definitely be interested in hearing modern, contemporary African pop music, especially as many of the songs feature upbeat rhythms and synthesised beats that are great to dance to, which are also all popular elements in most Western pop music. The music scene in Britain is one of the most diverse in the world, and one can find almost any kind of music there: rock, pop, reggae, classical, punk, jazz, the list goes on. The British music and club scene is always on the look out for something new, different and colourful, which are all characteristics of a lot of African pop music. There are without a doubt many people, young and old, who would love to embrace contemporary pop music from Africa, but it would appear that it is more a matter of giving those who are not part of the African community the tools and ability to access this music, as most of it is not advertised to the mainstream media. In Britain, one would not normally see music from most countries in Africa advertised freely and obviously, but one would have to look quite hard to find it. JJC, a Nigerian rapper played the Womad festival in London, and remarked that although the crowd was ‘95% white’, they were still going wild, and the atmosphere was identical to his sell-out shows with a solely Nigerian audience, showing that anyone can enjoy music, no matter where they are from.

As a result, it is the destruction of the barrier preventing contemporary music from Africa from being played on mainstream radio and television, and being advertised in mainstream newspapers and magazines that could be the key to increasing its success and popularity among those who are not members of the African community in Britain and the rest of Europe, as this would surely open many new paths for Africa’s many already established, and up-and-coming artists.