Nde’feyo Entertainment establishes artist booking agency: Ulalo

Nde’feyo Entertainment, one of the country’s music companies, is casting its net wider as it announces the establishment of a talent booking agency – Ulalo.

Through the agency, Nde’feyo will be booking acts from all ranges of talent from musicians, theatre groups, comedians, dancers, MCs to Deejays.

Nde’feyo Entertainment, which also runs record labels Nde’feyo Music and Nde’feyo Gospel, says Ulalo Booking Agency will be of great help to promoters, artists, venue owners, festival organisers, corporate events organisers and other clients.

“This innovative agency presents structural growth of the entertainment sector in the country,” says a statement issued by the company on Monday.

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It states that the establishment of the agency, the first of its kind in Malawi, is in response to the country’s industry needs and will greatly contribute to the growth of the arts industry.

“In territories where arts and entertainment careers are more developed and taken seriously, booking agencies are common and are taken as an essential service to the industry. In nature, a booking agency sources assignments for artist and they share revenue according to pre-agreed conditions,” reads part of the statement.

According to an analysis by the music company, performances are the major source of income to many Malawian artists. However, there have been stories whereby artists and clients have ended up in fierce disputes due to unclear agreements.

“Many artists also feel they do not get enough bookings to get their career going or they do not feel they are adequately compensated for their performances. Some artists also feel they do not have the right capacity and acumen to negotiate on a better deal,” the statement observes.

With Ulalo Booking Agency, artists in the country will be able to get the right networks and connections to guarantee regular bookings. The agency will also ensure that payments from clients to artists are honoured.

On the side of the clients, Nde’feyo notes that sometimes clients feel duped by late appearances by artists, non-turn up and unsatisfactory performance amongst other things.

It also observes that some clients do not have access to contacts of the preferred artists and some do not like the hassle of checking out availability of artists.

Nde’feyo Entertainment co-director Ken Limwame adds that “Some clients need advice on which artists they should book for their events. Other clients demand performance agreements to be formalized so that they are guaranteed of a quality service.”

Says Limwame: “Some clients prefer to agree with one party instead of engaging all the individual artists that are to perform. We are there to satisfy these needs.”

“The agency exists to bridge the needs of artists and clients and to bring more rewarding experience to both,” he adds. “We are hopeful that the industry will be supportive to this innovative development.”

Ulalo Booking Agency will be offering non-exclusive agreements to artists which means artists can get bookings elsewhere or by themselves.

The agency says it is free to work with any artist regardless of their affiliation to any record label or management company. It however says in some cases, the agreements will be exclusive.

As indicated by Nde’feyo, the agency is already in discussion with almost “all in-demand artists in the country” to make its roster as diverse and exhaustive of what the Malawian music industry can offer.

Ulalo Booking Agency is also linking up with booking agencies from the region and beyond so as to increase booking opportunities even outside Malawi. Through these agencies, the Malawian firm believes it will also be booking regional or international acts.

The agency is expected to be officially launched in April and clients that need to book an artist and artists that need to be on Ulalo roster need to be visiting Nde’feyo’s websitehttp://www.ndefeyo.com/ulalo/.

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