A dynamic industry is a growing industry. The features of a dynamic industry are indicators that enable us to know that the industry is growing by their mere presence. The Plateau music industry is a paradox as it is young and old at the same time. It is old in the sense that it has recorded niggard growth despite the relatively long period during which it has been alive.
A growing industry should have people with big dreams and are determined to actualize the dreams by following the narrow path, which inevitably leads to righteousness. It appears that 70% of our artistes prefer the speed lane even when it is obvious that speed kills. In a growing industry the artistes should be patient to learn how to write good songs and make good instrumentation by working with good instrumentalists or good studio engineers. In that wise a growing industry should also have good instrumentalists or studios engineers.
One important characteristic of a growing industry is the presence of analysts/critics. These are those who look at the various components of a piece of music and comment on them. The commentaries can be positive or negative. In a growing industry the person criticized should also be ready to tolerate the criticism in-as-much, as the criticism must be constructive. Constructive criticism can sometimes take the form of reviews. Music review is a hallmark of an industry that is growing.
For one to be a good music analyst he himself must have enough knowledge of the business to enable him succeed. Some have the knowledge but choose not to play. Others have the knowledge and are playing successfully. Others have played successfully and have taken a bow. It is however rare to get a performing musician to criticize the works of his colleagues. Hence the other two are the only ones in a good position to make both positive and negative commentaries about the works of artistes.
In Jos, however, it is difficult to point to a single person that can be referred to as a music showbiz commentator especially in the area of music. Part of the reasons are that certain people don’t enjoy giving unsolicited commentaries or are afraid that certain persons may take it personal following such comments on their projects. Hence tolerance of criticism is also a feature of a dynamic industry as it leads to improvements.
But the seeming non-existence of music analysts in our community could also be due to the absence of a medium of expression. In developed countries there are TV and radio stations dedicated to music. There could also be magazines, newspaper columns or the whole print medium wholly dedicated to the cause. Here we have music shows on radio and TV that do not, however, have provisions for music analysis. This could be because it did not occur to the presenter to make provisions for such. If the community shows it is craving for such, it definitely, will occur to one or two presenters to introduce them in their shows.
This is not to say that the music industry is not growing at all but the chameleon speed is giving a lot of cause for concern. The presence of such crucial rallying points will no doubt increase the momentum of the industry so that we can begin to look beyond Jeremiah Gyang and P-Square.