Lira on the business of music

Lira’s new book, “Making Herstory” (Struik), takes us through an unbridled account of the past 10 years. In this extract, she discusses making a living in SA's music industry.

“The toughest thing about the music industry is ‘making it’ – really creating a sustainable success out of it! People think once you are appearing in a cool video on TV you have made it, or perhaps that appearing in a reality TV show is a sign of success. It is great exposure, but not success. The trick is actually making a living from this game, and once you start making a living, actually keeping it up.

The fear of not making it plagued my mind for many years while I pursued this career. When I left a comfortable job, I knew that I at 999 Music became a means to an end. I had to improvise and make the best of the situation. It ended up being just the education I needed. The perfect training ground to build my character. It gave me the right kind of challenges that would force me to crack open the hard shell that contained my potential.

The South African market is so different from the US; indeed, it is different to the rest of the world. We are a small country with only 55 million people, very few of whom are within the income tax bracket. 

Even fewer of those buy music or attend concert shows. The first thing to get a grip on is that this is not the American dream. It is therefore unrealistic to base your expectations on what we see American stars doing. The first thing, thus, is to set ambitious yet realistic expectations for yourself. To think practically and not like some superstar fantasy as seen on TV.

My approach was to first identify my target market. To find a gap in the market and fill it.When I decided to take my career into my own hands in 2003, I learned very valuable lessons: the first being how to deal with MONEY. This is always at the core for anyone embarking on a music career. Will I be able to make a living? Often the average starry-eyed youngster does not care about this and they ‘just want to sing’. 

The naïve ones think they will be driving Bentleys and flashing fancy diamonds as soon as they are signed to a record label. Some are even silly enough to go for these frivolous things beyond the financial security they have built for themselves. Truth is that it takes a lot of work, planning and dedication mixed in with talent, timing and chance. In my journey I discovered a lot about myself. I took many lessons with me that I had learned from being in the corporate environment.

I think being a musician is much like having your own business. After all, your product, your music and your talent becomes your business. I believe this challenges you at the core of who you are. I discovered deep into my journey that the way I viewed business and money stood in the way of my success. My own beliefs about money and success were sabotaging all my efforts at making a financial success of my career. 

I had heard many people talk about how difficult it is to be a musician, and I subscribed to that mindset. Being forced to rely on myself for generating income exposes me to my true self. This has been by far the most challenging journey I have undertaken; it forced me to face many of my personal demons in the areas of love, self-worth, success and money.”