2 cents: Gatekeepers vs Creatives

Gatekeepers of the entertainment industry, the people who stand in the way of creatives growing and being able to turn their art into bread. They are the people that are in key positions and are able to add to the slowly growing and at times stagnant Namibian entertainment industry. As an artist manager and music director and radio personality I have seen both sides of the coin, and I can assure you that everything is not as it seems in Namibian showbiz!

In case you are already wondering who these gatekeepers are?
Well, they are made up of “certain” entertainment journalists, radio & TV personalities, event organisers, corporates and even creatives themselves. There are people in these positions that do not give a damn about the culture and the Namibian entertainment industry as a whole.

If you read my previous article on lack of patriotism for Namibian art, then you know there are certain radio presenters that do not play Namibian music, they are not even concerned with what is happening on the ground in the Namibian entertainment space. That goes for some entertainment journalists as well. We get it, most of you studied journalism and do it to put bread on your table but can you pretend to care just a little about the culture? Journalists need to broaden their radar and give us entertainment stories from all over the country and not only focus on what’s happening in Windhoek! Don’t wait for creatives to come beg you for a story, at least meet them half way.

Event organisers, the biggest group of gatekeepers! The nepotism of some of these people is the reason you don’t see a lot of artists that are doing well and working hard performing at their events. I can tell you now that more than 50% of the artists you see on a line-up are there because they know someone on the organising committee. Also the reason we see the same artists every time at certain festivals. No matter how good you are and popping, if one of the people on the committee doesn’t like you for whatever personal reason you ain’t getting in.

For corporate companies, it’s simply about marketing and profit, they would never utter the words “for the culture”.

Last but not least, creatives! Creatives are their own gatekeepers by not sharing their platform with others in the same industry. Everyone is in competition with the other, those at the top do not co-sign the ones that are coming up. Opportunities are not being shared. Another thing worth mentioning is the mediocre quality of the content that is being put out. If you know your work is not that good, please don’t put it out and go back to the drawing board. If you want journalists to write about you, radio presenters to play your music or talk about you and your work, event organisers to book you then you need to give them something worth putting on. To be blunt, whack artists are messing up the game. Whack artists are gatekeepers to those who actually deserve that attention.

It’s crazy to think that there are people in the entertainment industry that are keeping others from winning, people that do not care about the culture and don’t even try to help grow the Namibian entertainment at all because all it is to them is a day job. That is unfortunately the sad reality!
You could be one of these people, or know someone who is, just remember that you can easily put bread in someone else’s mouth if you play your role and share your platform!

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Keep washing your hands and stay at home!!