Dear Artist:
Today I’m not here to fight. I’m just here asking, begging and pleading that you please read your contracts. I know it’s a lot of pages but read it- all of it. We all run to the duration and remuneration parts then sign. Please, please read your parts, the producer’s parts and the channel’s parts. Know your rights, obligations and responsibilities. Read that contract like a novel if you have to and mark all the parts you don’t understand or need clarity on. Sit with your manager/agent and even get legal advice where necessary so you’re able to amend, tweak and customize it. Add your own clauses for your protection- we all do it. Reasons may be religion, culture and simply personal preferences but if it’s not put in the contract, we’ll always have issues.
We screw ourselves by not reading the FINE PRINT. It’s not called ‘fine print’ by mistake, the font is even smaller. Let’s start here so we’re able to fight bigger battles. We can’t march to DSAC to fight contracts and laws we don’t know anything about. I’m not getting burned in the sun for nothing. Let’s know the field, let’s interrogate the industry so we’re able to wisely deal with the injustices we face on a daily. We speak regulation of the industry, do we even understand what we’re asking for? Do we even know what the Performers' Protection Amendment Bill is all about? Let’s equip ourselves. Read, ask, inquire and be in the know so we don’t fight in the dark.
Lastly, speak up. Even if your voice is shaking, speak up. This is your life, not a popularity contest. Don’t compromise yourself for the sake of being liked. If they blacklist you, so be it. They can’t blacklist all of us. Play your part- start with personal responsibility and accountability. The change you want to see starts with you. Let’s!
Now, back to the beginning: find your contract and read it then we can talk. Ke a le rata neh! ❤️🇿🇦