Who is an independent artiste? An independent artiste is one who has no deal with any record label or production house and as such he or she is the sponsor of all his activities, he or she can be aided by well-wishers but they are bound by no legal contract and they do not enjoy the protection of any cooperate body.Many may wonder why this is being brought up, probably because nobody has ever thought it wise to make a plate out of the odds of independent artistes in the Cameroonian music industry; well we will look at that today. We once came around to analyze the capability of our home based record labels to harness the talent in our industry as there are a good number of talented Cameroonian artistes signed to foreign records and yet there is still a great number of artistes who struggle with their careers, employing their personal means and hence evolving at a slow pace. Artistes who identify as independent mostly embark on a do it yourself approach to their music, from recording, production, video conception and promotion. They also do a lot of outsourcing especially at the level of production and making of videos. But in Cameroon, being an independent artiste can be an everyday battle.

One of the greatest battles of independent artistes is the financing of their music, mostly the burden of sponsorship for independent artistes rest on the artiste solely, they may once in a while get help from well-wishers, but at the base they sponsor the better part of their music. This battle goes from recording, as few of them have ready access to studio facilities, through production and extends down to promotion. Albeit, these artistes are not void of talent. Among them are geniuses who have enough potential to put Cameroon on the map with their music, but they find themselves most of the time crumbling under the heavy weight of financial difficulties.

Also, collaborations have proven very effective in the growth process of all artistes, but negotiating collaborations in the Cameroonian music industry without a record label in Cameroon has proven to be very tough. With these hindrances one may think that independent artistes have no future, but an old adage says “When there is a will there is a way”, and with respect to it, we can see some independent artistes thriving and heading to the top with their releases, like Ngoma, Skidi Boy and Askia who recently joined the queue.

What do you think are the chances independent artistes have as far as making it in Cameroon music is concerned? Feel free to drop your thoughts on this.

Many may wonder why this is being brought up, probably because nobody has ever thought it wise to make a plate out of the odds of independent artistes in the Cameroonian music industry; well we will look at that today. We once came around to analyze the capability of our home based record labels to harness the talent in our industry as there are a good number of talented Cameroonian artistes signed to foreign records and yet there is still a great number of artistes who struggle with their careers, employing their personal means and hence evolving at a slow pace. Artistes who identify as independent mostly embark on a do it yourself approach to their music, from recording, production, video conception and promotion. They also do a lot of outsourcing especially at the level of production and making of videos. But in Cameroon, being an independent artiste can be an everyday battle.

One of the greatest battles of independent artistes is the financing of their music, mostly the burden of sponsorship for independent artistes rest on the artiste solely, they may once in a while get help from well-wishers, but at the base they sponsor the better part of their music. This battle goes from recording, as few of them have ready access to studio facilities, through production and extends down to promotion. Albeit, these artistes are not void of talent. Among them are geniuses who have enough potential to put Cameroon on the map with their music, but they find themselves most of the time crumbling under the heavy weight of financial difficulties.

Also, collaborations have proven very effective in the growth process of all artistes, but negotiating collaborations in the Cameroonian music industry without a record label in Cameroon has proven to be very tough. With these hindrances one may think that independent artistes have no future, but an old adage says “When there is a will there is a way”, and with respect to it, we can see some independent artistes thriving and heading to the top with their releases, like Ngoma, Skidi Boy and Askia who recently joined the queue.

What do you think are the chances independent artistes have as far as making it in Cameroon music is concerned? Feel free to drop your thoughts on this.

Written by

Emmanuel Asafor