South African artiste management companies and personal managers have a long way to go in keeping up with market changes and moving beyond just finding a gig, recording contract and endorsement deals for their artists. The playground is changing very fast and changing for the worst especially for those artists who still believe in the old ways of doing things. Much work is needed in crafting career plans of our South African musicians and making sure that effective methods are designed in order to help our local artists to compete effectively and continentally.

Africa, especially South Africa has presented itself as a gate way to Africa. International music acts are flocking into this country to seek greener pastures. The past 18 months has seen the South African music industry changing and getting friendlier in hosting a number of big international acts. We have seen artists like, but not limited to:

• John Legend

• Rihanna

• Bon Jovi

• Maxwell

This trend is not only happening in the music industry but also in the business industry, a number of companies have invested in the south african economy and are expanding into other parts of the continent. Some of these companies include but not limited to:

• Barclays Limited

• Mass mart

• China's Jinchuan Group

• Chinese Investment Corporation

Role of Artist managers

This trend is crucial for artist managers to notice and analyse properly. It is difficult for artists to pay attention to their craft and at the same time track what is happening in the industry.  Artistes must be guided by their management companies on what is happening in the industry, craft strategies that will ensure that musicians sustain and are always ahead of the market changes in the music industry. This ability of management companies and personal managers is crucial in the lives and careers of artistes.

Competency Levels of Managers

It is unfortunate that some managers do not have the correct knowledge and skills to manage artists in this country. This inability to support artists is also fatal to the careers of our musicians in positioning them locally and continentally. Managers and artists must make sure that this gap is identified and dealt with, either by building up the skill or acquiring it from those who possess that particular skill, and ensure that their career prosper and is escalated to a different level.

 Africa continent perspective

Artists from other parts of the continent have seen this opportunity have started talking the Africa language, they are slowly moving into this country through using collaborative tactics with our South African artistes. These music collaborations are introducing their music to the South African consumer and at the same time building up market share for the future. South African business environment is receptive and friendlier to business compared to other countries. This applies to all other business quadrants in the economy.

This friendliness of the market to international players is also writing off most of our musicians from the music industry. Artistes have not anticipated these kinds of market changes and management companies and personal managers have not been paying attention to the messages that are being sent by the market. The persistence of this trend will see the music industry being dominated by international players, coming in with not just good music, but with financial muscles, knowledge and skills as well as world best practices. This will eventually transform the market and turn it to something that our local artists will struggle to make a living from.