Artistes and music producers should shift their focus from themselves to the preferences of consumers if they want to create hit songs, says industry experts.
This advice was given by Sekeena Addo, an Artiste Manager and Creative Consultant, during an appearance on The Chat show on Channel One TV.
Sekeena Addo emphasized that the key to producing hit songs lies in understanding and responding to the tastes of music consumers. According to her, the audience ultimately decides which songs succeed.
“What makes a hit song is the consumer” she stated
She explained further by stating that no matter how confident an artiste or producer may be about a particular track, it is the listeners who have the final say.
“I say that because you as artistes, and we have experienced this with all of our artistes in the career of music, can say today that you are going to release a song today and it’s going to be banging but the consumers say no. You release another song, which was not in your plan, it could be just something to pass the time, but the consumers like it. So, the consumer always dictates how fast or how slow you are going,” she stated.
“… it’s all about education. knowing your market, knowing what you are doing and also being with a plan B. Don’t be static and say I am going to do this and that is it. Make sure you have the right people and the right engine to filtrate the market in those different areas to know whether people are listening on the ground,” she added.
Supporting Addo’s comments, Entertainment Journalist Edem Mensah-Tsotorme highlighted the critical role of public relations (PR) in the success of music. He explained that PR is essential for creating awareness and driving listeners to discover new music.
“PR is very important because you need to create awareness for the song. You want people to go and listen. If you look at the cycle people go through even to make a purchase decision. When they discover that there is a need, they search for information and it is dependent on availability; and a certain awareness. So, it would be best if you created the awareness,” he stated.
