Ghanaian musician M3nsa has called certain social media platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram, “useless” for garnering support from musicians’ fan bases.
M3nsa described some of the difficulties he had in trying to obtain funds for an album he planned to release in a June 27 interview with 3FM.
He talked about his unsuccessful attempt at using social media for crowdfunding. At some point, he and his group decided to use Kickstarter to raise the $25,000 needed to release their album. They were thrilled that the goal was not only reached but exceeded because of the community’s active support.
This experience, according to M3nsa, showed him the difference between the number of social media followers and the real-world impact they have.
“I started working on a project during the pandemic, and then everything was just falling apart. We tried many things, including distribution, but it just wasn’t working.
“So we decided to do a Kickstarter; you get your community to support you by donating any small amount they can, and you set a target, your communities will give you that money for you to release the album. And then the album is, in a sense, the community’s album.
“It was like $25,000. We reached it, and we passed it. But in the process, I also learned that Twitter is useless. Instagram is useless. I have 250,000 followers on Twitter. So imagine if everybody gave me 1 Cedi. But no one did,” he said.
He said he had to personally reach out to potential supporters over the phone until his efforts paid off.
M3nsa spoke on his experience, stating, “t shows you how your art affects people, how people are into you. It was such an eye-opener and also being able to sell yourself and sell an idea was such an education for us,” he said.
