Musicians should explore the business side of music — Baba Sadiq

BUSINESSMAN and founder of 3Music Awards Sadiq Abdulai Abu has advised musicians to look into other areas of the music business as a backup plan when their singing career starts to wane.

He sees it as a last-ditch effort to help artistes whose music career may hit its twilight stage and serve as another means of earnings for them.

He posited that when a musician's career begins to decline, he/she mostly has very few options to pursue and ways to make ends meet because he/she does not have additional sources of support or a backup plan.

Speaking in an interview with Graphic Showbiz, Baba Sadiq, who is currently an aspiring Member of Parliament for Okaikoi Central on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), said musicians often had a short career lifespan and it would be appropriate if they had alternative plans in the music industry.

“As an artiste, your lifespan can be very short if you only focus on singing. You can’t consistently stay on top for let’s say 10 or 15 years. What you can do to still maintain a level of relevance in the industry is to get acquainted with all the trades of the music industry.

“Ideally, as an artiste, you should understand other facets of the trade so that when you get to the twilight of your career, you can easily bank on the other areas you are knowledgeable at.

“If you are a singer and you are no longer singing, you can have your hands on producing and managing other talents or you can count on other areas of the industry you have a flair for,” he noted.

He referenced American singer and record producer Babyface as a musician who went through the trouble of learning about other aspects of the music business and is currently relying on that decision to earn millions as an executive record producer, even though he was no longer actively singing.

“Babyface is a typical example of such and he has done so well. Apart from singing, he has explored other facets of the industry and is now a well-established executive producer.

“So in a case where he is not doing music, which has been on hold for a while now, he has something to hold on to. Even here in Ghana, our very own Richie Mensah has hit that mark. He has mastered all the facets of the industry and is using it to his advantage,” he stated.