SUPERSTAR Jah Prayzah’s move to bar professional photographers from taking images and videos at his shows has split opinion.
Jah Prayzah is one of the leading artists in our entertainment industry.
He is a giant of an artist and many of his fans believe that he is the number one, even though others will dispute that.
What can’t be disputed is that he is an A-list artist in this country and any debate about greatness, especially among the current artists, can’t be complete without his name.
He has worked hard for his brand and he deserves the fruits that are coming with his success story.
Jah Prayzah also deserves respect.
We also respect his decision to ban the professional photographers from his shows.
However, there is still a lot that needs to be told to enlighten various stakeholders to ensure that they understand his concept.
There will be some who will claim that the crooner is now demanding too much from his local fans who have helped him become the superstar that he is today.
However, business-wise, it makes a lot of economic sense as some bloggers have been taking advantage and are generating revenue from using his footage.
This content is what Jah Prayzah generates and it is his source of income which then enables him to take care of his band and other supporting services.
This is where the world is going.
Things are changing and the days when artists would only generate money from bookings are long gone.
In this digital world, every revenue stream is important and every opportunity, where revenue can be generated, should be used.
It’s like this newspaper.
Our job is to generate content, through the articles which we publish and sell to our readers.
We also generate content which we post on our digital platforms and the mission is to also use it to generate as much revenue as possible.
These are opportunities which have been brought about by the evolving digital world and as much as we are using them, the likes of Jah Prayzah should also be using them.
Let’s take for instance Taylor Swift, the American superstar who is widely regarded as the best music star in the world today.
She is worth more than US$1 billion and recently went on a record-breaking tour in North America.
She made millions from ticket sales but she has gone even further to record a movie, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which she produced and was directed by Sam Wrench.
The film documents the Eras Tour and Swift struck a distribution agreement with AMC Theatres and Cinemark Theatres.
The filming was done at three shows and the movie was produced on a budget of between US$10-US$20 million.
She used the footage from her shows to make a movie and she will generate millions of dollars from that initiative.
That is the power of footage.
And, if we want our artists like Jah Prayzah to also become successful, we should also let them exclusively use the power of their footage.