The music industry doesn’t care about your talent-7 brutal lessons from 7 years of managing and building artists

I remember standing backstage at a mid-size festival in Accra — watching an artist with genuinely rare ability perform to a crowd that didn't know his name. He had the sound. He had the stagecraft. What he didn't have was a manager who had filed his publishing rights, a booking agent who could convert that night into a regional tour, or even a basic rider that communicated his value before he walked on stage. He performed brilliantly. And then he went home, the same as before. The music indu...

By Caleb Ahinakwah