Last week, Tilla made a post here on Facebook. She announced that she was planning to release an album and she wanted people to contribute. I was going to go back to the post to quote it verbatim, but it has since been deleted. I can’t tell now if she was serious about it or not, but let us, for the sake of this article assume that it was indeed serious.
Most of us know the story of Tilla's exit from New Bell music, an exit that came like a bang. Hers was the very first from that label, and then Pascal eventually. After leaving NBM, she tried to find her way back into music under her own imprint without much success.
She created a new record label under which she has released a number of tracks over this time and those were also flat-footed. Let’s just say she didn’t get the same ovations she had when she was in New Bell, under bigger spotlights.
She has since married and is now a mother. Congratulations to her by the way. To bring life to this Earth is a real blessing.
So, if I were Tilla, under similar circumstances and I wanted to come back onto the music scene in what way would I have gone about it? The answer is not too different from what she did.
CROWDFUNDING.
Crowdfunding may sound really alien to us, Cameroonians because when we think crowdfunding, we think about the foreign websites that aid this and having to pay using credit cards and what-not. But if you look at it critically, crowdfunding is not very different from Njangi.
It is essentially everyone contributing to help someone, with the added bonus that they get something in return. I know it’s a bit of s stretch but the underlying principle is not too different.
And from a practical point of view, someone you know has done some form of crowdfunding already; Tino.
For those who remember very well, last year Tino organised the Discovery Show. What Tino stressed in the many Facebook lives he did was that he was building a platform for artists by artists, and this was a project that meant something relevant and big for the industry. There was a particular dream and objective to the project. He asked that people that believed in the dream and in everything he had done for the culture up until then via PoiseSocial should support him in the Discovery Show
And people did. Many people who did not even plan to attend (some of them abroad) sent contributions via mobile payments for the Discovery Show. Unfortunately, the aftermath of the show crowded the beauty of the initiative and the gesture, but let’s not get into that now.
In essence, what I am trying to say is that I think that the best crowdfunding initiatives are the ones that have a strong intrinsic value and back story. They are the ones that have a starting point, that carry a tangible dream, that take customers on a journey and that hope for a strong ending/final product.
If you look at Tilla’s story; the ingredients for all of this are there.
Forced to exit New Bell music with only an EP to her name Had to move back to Bamenda and rebuild her life Tried to make a comeback through her own label Comeback was unsuccessful. Found love, gave birth. Found a new purpose to life; a new purpose that has changed her artistry. Now wants to share this new perspective through music.
That, I believe is a much better way she could have sold that project.
I bet you that if Tilla has made a five-minute video, documenting all of these; her triumphs, tribulations, her worries, love and childbirth and how she intended to rise up again… If she had made such a video and written to online music promotion platforms and asked them to share (which I would have done) the impact would have been greater.
Everyone loves a good story; especially one they can relate with. And people like rooting for the underdog. Tilla is an underdog and her story is one that will convince a lot of people. It all boils down to how it is packaged and delivered.
I could already see such a video. Tilla is talking and then images of her time in New Belll flash across the screen. The images are in black and white; pictures, snippets from her music videos. Her voice tells her story as some slow, sorrowful music plays in the background. Then the scene moves to her new-found love and motherhood. The black and white pictures are now colourful; pictures of her, her baby, her being a mom, her being renewed. An upbeat music, representing hope accompanies her voice as she talks about her new project and how she wants people to contribute.
I can’t claim that it would have given her everything she wanted, but it is definitely a helluva lot better than she just posting a picture on Facebook and saying she wants to make an album and that people should “drop budget”- phone number in tow.
And then she would have had to take people on the journey; a journey of accountability. She would have had to share pics and videos of studio sessions, share photos of her putting in the work, share little videos of her rapping or freestyling, anything to make people know she is grateful, and is working towards what they sent her money for. And that journey would buy her even more sympathy, new fans, and new source of cash. The PR alone around that would have been something great. She could have even gotten a PR person, for free, who also got charmed by what she was trying to do, and would have helped her in shaping her communication in the right way to make that happen.
And at the end, she would have to send exclusive content (maybe the full album + some bonus tracks) to those who contributed. All she needs is to send them a download link. It is not rocket science. For those who contributed heavily, she can add trinkets, teeshirts, whatever…
That is how, as a musician, you can crowdfund; especially when you are lucky to be in a position like Tilla where you have a decent platform and name recognition.
If I were Tilla that is what I would have done.
Peace out.
- Wandji Wilfred.