In a bid to unearth budding musical talents in Abuja, and give their music careers a boost, a talent discovery platform ‘The Hunt’ has been unveiled.
Jakpo Ukueku , Host and Coordinator ‘The Hunt’, who spoke at a press conference at the unveiling of the talent hunt in Abuja yesterday, stated that the platform was created for artists to express themselves and at the end of the talent hunt,12 successful artists will be selected and supported in their music careers.
Also speaking at the event Ali Grema, founder of Jamrock said, “this edition focuses on young Abuja talents, it’s the first of it’s kind and a platform where young entertainers can learn more about the entertainment industry.”
He added that entertainment should not be left to only private entities, and called on the government to play a key role in the Industry.
“It is very important for government to play a key role in the entertainment industry, in our GDP now we have the music and film sectors contributing a lot and we need government resources and grants so that entertainers can benefit from.
“And the government also gets a lot of revenue from it, in the form of Value Added Tax (VAT), and corporate taxes so it’s not just the government giving, they also take from it. Grema said.
On his part Creative Communication specialist Eddy Madaki, stressed the need for partnership in the Industry, and added that strategic partnership is key.
“In the creative space partnership is integral, there is no community or creative market in the world that doesn’t have strategic partners, it is important because it is a capital intensive platform.
“So you need the right investment to amplify it to a larger market. So I’ll say partnership probably accounts for 80% of the success of what you do as an entertainer.”
He added that a new generation of Abuja based artists are beginning to change the narrative of the Abuja music industry.
“Now we have a younger generation of creatives that are making locally grown music, movies and content creation, so it’s a more vibrant and ready market place. I think the time for Abuja to thrive creatively is now.”Madaki stated.
