An incident on advertising

So, it was yesterday afternoon at a bus stop and one of the very big network carriers in Nigeria was holding an awareness campaign with plenty students (who are at home for a very long ASUU induced holiday) volunteering to help with the campaign or recruited. They looked beautiful in their yellow T- shirts and black pants as they danced merrily to the music playing from the mobile van and shared the SIM cards to innocent passers by who were rather more interested in getting away from the music and traffic the mobile van was causing. The Dj was really getting the crowd into the grove gradually as he played tune after tune of Nigerian hit songs from back in the day. The Dj was the sound that was selling this particular campaign and he must have for a long minute forgotten who was paying him as he started a hit track by Eldee ft Banky - W. Yeah, big boy and nobody including myself was expecting to hear the lyrics so loud from the speakers as I walked by as Banky's voice on his verse kept on blaring out. Then every one was jolted when Banky innocently said in his verse the name of a rival network provider on the song. The whole bus stop froze as all eyes went to the Dj and those eyes asked with so much venom, "WHAT?". Yeah talk about advertising for a rival brand on a street campaign. Funny enough, a crowd was gathering not too far from this musical jamboree patronizing this said rival network operator devoid of any fan fare and at hearing that song, well, lets say that many of them had a grin boldly inscribed on their faces. Yeah. That's what advertising campaigns can do, right?

FOR THE AUDIENCE

Art forms of any kind provides satisfaction to the artist in two ways, one is the monetary and the other is the appreciation from the art loving anonymous, no matter how few. Why do we listen to music? Why do we read books? Why do we see movies and dramas? More important is, why do we sing, write or act? It is true that the writers are often times more than the readers (readers who do not write) and musicians keep springing up from all corners per second with some soul lifting tune. It could be just inspiration or talent, flash in the pan or sustainable quality, the audience, the market decides that. The truth also is that there is always someone, unknown to every artist who will relate to whatever art, no matter how obscure and “non-critiqued” an artwork is. There may not be a market, but there is always an audience. The audience could be there to mock (usually for the up coming act) but there is always a true appreciation of every art. It may not be at the present time or in the near future, it may never be a best-seller or a blockbuster, it may never be a classic art of any kind but if it is never written, sung, acted, captured, sculpted or painted, if it is never given life, the potential within will never be appreciated by that anonymous art lover who is neither critique nor a collector. This is not saying that every art should be done for the audience, far from it. The art is done for the artist primarily, I could be wrong but true art is indeed as selfish as humanity is as it dwells in itself to make itself bigger than the art which it really is. The power of every art is in getting each person who comes across it, even if it is for just a second, to ponder, what the artist was going through in the creation of the art. Writers and singers, painters and actors revel in their art. The audience provides not just the appreciation and monetary remuneration, but also the prestige.
Art is for the artist, there is an artist in everyone, we all appreciate a form of art for this reason, as an artist, there is an audience for your art, so what have you  created with your artist within? It would be wrong to humanity if you keep enjoying the art of other artist without creating one for others to enjoy. Then again, humans can be selfish and artist are selfish. So if you are there in the audience cheering your favourite act, be aware that the art was not created for the audience.