Ghanaian musician Trigmatic has advocated for the African music industry to concentrate more on its domestic market as opposed to looking to the Western market for approval.
Trigmatic argues that although the international market is good, the African music industry should be mindful of recognizing the international market at the expense of protecting its local market.
Trigmatic indicated that a lot of African musicians frequently overlook their local markets in favour of getting into the American and European markets.
“We are always excited. It’s like we’re always looking for validation from outside, from the western world, which is not bad but it’s bad when it’s as a result of us not believing in what we have, even for our own market,” Trigmatic said on Showbiz 360 with Giovani Caleb.
While acknowledging that the western market and its currency is good for musicians, he urged African musicians to also strengthen their local presence.
“We are always excited that maybe there is a category on the Grammys for us but we are not worried that we have killed KORA awards, one of our very prestigious awards and the likes.
“I’m not saying is bad that we want to cross over, the market there is big and very good. However, we need to be mindful of how open we are letting our talents go if we don’t learn to make the best out of it internally and make our walls strong,” he noted on Saturday, September 28.
Recounting his experience during his stay in Kampala, Uganda, Trigmatic said he found it difficult to hear music from other African countries on local radio stations.
“I have been to a few African countries and I realise that we have similar culture. The market for the industry is huge that we haven’t tapped into.
“It was difficult for me to get other songs from other countries, on their radio platforms and the pubs. You will hear some Nigerian music, but you hardly will hear Ghanaian songs maybe something from Magnum, Stonebwoy and so you realise there is a gap,” he added.
He argued that with all the attention and focus given to the international awards and music market by African artistes, a loose protection of the African music market has been created.
“The Ugandan is also looking at crossing over maybe to Europe or America. The Tanzanian is also doing same. We are not so concerned about what is happening in our market and so our market is very open, the protection of our market is not there. We have broken our walls,” Trigmatic stated.
