Creativity in Music on Verge of Triumphant Return

Kenneth O Eze

The days of solo acts and miming at live shows are numbered if feelers from Sir Shina Peters are anything to go by. The Afro juju exponent made this known at a media parley in to promote Fortune Instrumentalists Talent Show (FITS), an initiative of D.Board Media and Unicorn Media Productions Ltd, which held at Ikeja, Lagos , last week.

According to John Aigbokhaode, chief executive officer of D.Board Media, FITS aims at reinventing music and live entertainment as in times of old. “FITS aims to unearth musical talents and help them learn from the masters so that they can become enduring stars, not one track mega stars as we have them today,” he states.

Lovers of good music reminiscence the days when the likes of King Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, Osita Osadebe, Ras Kimono, Shina Peters, Bright Chimezie and their ilk thrilled audiences to live performances almost on a weekly basis. Not any more, as today’s mega stars mostly mime songs. This gap is part of what FITS is out to address.

M2 gathers that the organizers of the show plan to hold auditions in several locations across the country including Enugu, Benin, Kaduna, Abuja, Lagos, Calabar, and Ibadan. Contestants that emerge from the zonal auditions will be housed in Lagos for about a month for the reality TV show proper. Peters and Tosin Olakanye Olayemi, more popularly known as Ayanbinrin, will feature as King and Queen respectively to lead the training of the talents in band music and mastery of instruments.

Stressing the need for a reinvention of music in Nigeria, Tunde Olaoye, chief executive of Unicorn Media Productions Ltd, a firm of music producers and co-partners in the project, emphasizes that any one who is claiming to be a musician but lacks the ability to play an instrument will find it hard, if not impossible, to sustain the claim.

He blames the dearth of musical talents in Nigeria on the tendency to put commercial considerations over professionalism saying “there is a dearth of creativity in Nigeria . Are we satisfied with what we are providing? The artistes lack staying capacity because of their inability to master the act. We want to bring back the good old days when songs lingered in the minds because of their high quality.”

Peters finds the trend disgusting, prompting his alignment with the FITS vision to make stars of budding talents. He says “the state of music performance today is nothing to write home about,” and blames government and music marketers for denying the industry the necessary support. He asks “if the government can fund the Nigerian Football Association (NFA), why not set up a similar body to manage and encourage music?” For him, music is a necessary part of national development, including sports. He points out that even when national teams play, the supporters club is only able to drum up support by way of music.

Ayanbinrin recalls that when she did her first album, a marketer strongly advised her to redo the music on the premise that this kind of beat does not sell in Nigeria . She explains that her insistence on professionalism helped her maintain her standards and she went on to release professionally packaged which turned out to be a commercial success.

The King and Queen are determined not to only impact these virtues to the talents but will make time and other resources available to mentor and encourage them to pursue fulfilling musical careers while remaining as a band. With the reality show receiving industry wide support, it appears that creativity in music is on the verge of a triumphant return in Nigeria

Creativity in Music on Verge of Triumphant ReturnKenneth O EzeThe days of solo acts and miming at live shows are numbered if feelers from Sir Shina Peters are anything to go by. The Afro juju exponent made this known at a media parley in to promote Fortune Instrumentalists Talent Show (FITS), an initiative of D.Board Media and Unicorn Media Productions Ltd, which held at Ikeja, Lagos , last week.According to John Aigbokhaode, chief executive officer of D.Board Media, FITS aims at reinventing music and live entertainment as in times of old. “FITS aims to unearth musical talents and help them learn from the masters so that they can become enduring stars, not one track mega stars as we have them today,” he states.Lovers of good music reminiscence the days when the likes of King Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, Osita Osadebe, Ras Kimono, Shina Peters, Bright Chimezie and their ilk thrilled audiences to live performances almost on a weekly basis. Not any more, as today’s mega stars mostly mime songs. This gap is part of what FITS is out to address.M2 gathers that the organizers of the show plan to hold auditions in several locations across the country including Enugu, Benin, Kaduna, Abuja, Lagos, Calabar, and Ibadan. Contestants that emerge from the zonal auditions will be housed in Lagos for about a month for the reality TV show proper. Peters and Tosin Olakanye Olayemi, more popularly known as Ayanbinrin, will feature as King and Queen respectively to lead the training of the talents in band music and mastery of instruments.Stressing the need for a reinvention of music in Nigeria, Tunde Olaoye, chief executive of Unicorn Media Productions Ltd, a firm of music producers and co-partners in the project, emphasizes that any one who is claiming to be a musician but lacks the ability to play an instrument will find it hard, if not impossible, to sustain the claim.He blames the dearth of musical talents in Nigeria on the tendency to put commercial considerations over professionalism saying “there is a dearth of creativity in Nigeria . Are we satisfied with what we are providing? The artistes lack staying capacity because of their inability to master the act. We want to bring back the good old days when songs lingered in the minds because of their high quality.”Peters finds the trend disgusting, prompting his alignment with the FITS vision to make stars of budding talents. He says “the state of music performance today is nothing to write home about,” and blames government and music marketers for denying the industry the necessary support. He asks “if the government can fund the Nigerian Football Association (NFA), why not set up a similar body to manage and encourage music?” For him, music is a necessary part of national development, including sports. He points out that even when national teams play, the supporters club is only able to drum up support by way of music.Ayanbinrin recalls that when she did her first album, a marketer strongly advised her to redo the music on the premise that this kind of beat does not sell in Nigeria . She explains that her insistence on professionalism helped her maintain her standards and she went on to release professionally packaged which turned out to be a commercial success.The King and Queen are determined not to only impact these virtues to the talents but will make time and other resources available to mentor and encourage them to pursue fulfilling musical careers while remaining as a band. With the reality show receiving industry wide support, it appears that creativity in music is on the verge of a triumphant return in Nigeria

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