…no artist will pay millions to get featured on a blog, but multi-million companies will reach out with millions if you can host an ad for them on your platform. – Tuke
THJ: Tuke, in your opinion, who is the most successful Cameroonian artist right now who is under the age of 40 and why do you consider this person the most successful?
Tuke: Jovi without any arguments. His work speak for itself. Ain’t no Cameroonian in this industry of urban music that comes close. Like I always say he is the Kanye West of Africa. You can hate his antics but can’t change his scores on the board.
THJ: Moving on to the business of music, we all know that the music industry can be a very profitable business. Look at Nigerian and South African artists, they understand this. Unfortunately, many Cameroonian artists do not seem to realize that they need to educate themselves on the business side of music as their main focus is just to get famous.
THJ: What are you doing to better educate yourself about the music industry so that you can stay one step ahead of the game?
Tuke: I have always been about my business. I don’t live for the moment. I did take few courses on Music Business Management and presently studying for my diploma in Online Marketing and Business. Plus I ask a lot of questions when I meet people who have experience in this industry. Most importantly, read everything before you put your signature on it.
THJ: We all know that the media plays a huge part in artists gaining exposure and in the last 5 years, there has been the emergence of numerous blogs, online magazines and other online platforms that have played a big part in promoting Cameroonian artists and its pop culture like THE HOTJEM. However, many Cameroonian blogs/bloggers have been accused of “not doing their jobs” in a professional manner and seem to constantly be “at war” with artists when the bloggers don’t say what the artists wants to hear.
THJ: What are your thoughts about Cameroonian bloggers in relation to helping the music/entertainment industry? Do you think Cameroonian bloggers have a negative and/or positive impact on the industry?
Tuke: Personally, I think it’s boring. About being negative or positive is all about perceptions so that’s not real. I just feel like it’s not innovative – it’s the same copy and paste. Don’t get me wrong some bloggers are doing their thing but for most, you go through their blog and you see just certain artists they promote which happens to be their friends. Like I said before, nepotism has derailed this industry.
THJ: Should bloggers get paid for their time used to blog about artists and push the artists music out to the public?
Tuke: Bloggers are publisher’s, right?
THJ: Yes, bloggers are publishers.
Tuke: Publishers get paid for everything that’s hosted on their platforms. But if the artist is paying? What are his guaranteed expected results because at the end of the day its business. Bloggers should get paid but it should be a give and take relationship because you need traffic on your site that’s your stock and people come to these blogs to get latest gist’s. I think most bloggers are short sighted.
They think only of the now, but the truth remains – no artist will pay millions to get featured on a blog, but multi-million companies will reach out with millions if you can host an ad for them on your platform.
That’s how the money comes in but first you got to build your following and nothing attracts this youthful demography that these companies will kill for like show business, so you have their potential customers in your hands and they will cough out huge sums to use your database.
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THJ: You make some good points about blogger/artist relationships. Not many seem to understand this. Entertainers in general also need to remember that being featured or mentioned on a blog builds theirs online CV which is one of the first things people look for when searching for information on an artist, brand or product, so it is important for artists and others to have a good working relationship with bloggers and artists.
THJ: How can the blogger/artist relationship get better?
Tuke: I think there is work and there is business. As long as we can separate the two, relationships will get better and I think it’s wrong for a blogger to control the narrative of a story. If it’s wrong, its wrong. If its right, it is right. Couple of blogs I stopped following because I noticed their reporting was personal. I know bad news is more entertaining but damn I want to read the bad news and the good news too. An artist will release a song – no word. Weeks later, he gets into some silly online beef and then it’s everywhere I don’t get it.
