IT and Telecoms: WantItAll, Geared to Improve SA Music Industry

In comparison to the massive scale of music in Europe and the United States, the South African music industry, unmistakably crowded with talented musicians, has a poor reputation when it comes to guaranteeing the commercial success of local artists. WantItAll , SA’s largest online store has a passion for music and aims to improve this all- to-real perception.

Johannesburg based company WantItAll has built a great platform to handle all the payments and logistics surrounding artists’ products, whether it is CD’s, DVD’s, books or merchandise. “The artists focus on the creativity, and we make sure they make money off their sales. They know music, we know logistics!” says Justin Drennan, CEO of www.wantitall.co.za

Broadcasting music through online channels not only provides a forum to easily communicate and develop relationships with fans, but a platform for the promotion of band material too. In January of this year, WanItAll had a whopping 225 000 visitors to their site, and each month it grows further.

Peter Pote, the lead singer of SA’s rock band Evolver testifies to this, “WantItAll has thousands of people visiting their site daily, and therefore there is an extremely successful cross-sell opportunity for us having our albums visible on their site. We also link WantItAll to our official website, Facebook page and MySpace, and even a fan in Poffadder can receive our products on their doorstep, where they may not have found it their nearby stores.”

The fact that South Africa was culturally secluded from the rest of the world for a long time, due to apartheid sanctions, has also affected the long-term development of efficient distribution channels. Therefore, to avoid the costs, and pitfalls of commercial labels, an alternative option for local artists is to go indie (Independent). “Us (Evolver) being the record label in conjunction with our great deal with Wantitall we are able to keep our costs very low, so that the buyer gets a great deal”, adds Pote.

WantItAll allows artists to list their items on their site, and will house a consignment of stock to keep at their warehouse. “As people order, we fulfill. We then report back to the various artists giving them their sales numbers”, adds, Drennan.

In a country where internet usage is growing as telecommunications infrastructure improves, the time is now for artists to capitalize on this opportunity of online distribution, as it is at no cost to the artist.