The Haitian music industry and the numbers, the case of "Klass" in 2023
Pierre-Phaill Goudou ·
We can estimate the revenue from the 33 performances in New York City and the rest of the United States at $396,000 (33 X $12,000). Thus, the American market would represent revenues of $1,016,000 US dollars.
Revenue figures remain a closely guarded secret among Haitian businesses. The use of scientific data is not always the reflex of Haitian entrepreneurs.
Very few of them refer to primary or secondary data when they want to start a business or make managerial decisions. Our opaque relationship with money, our trivialization of management sciences, and the prevailing culture of mistrust all encourage these behaviors. This is a significant cultural factor in our context.
Even the most structured Haitian companies do not make their revenue figures public, with the exception of financial institutions, primarily banks, which do so out of legal obligation. The rare figures available on company size are provided by the Direction générale des Impôts (DGI) and, to a lesser extent, by the Administration générale des douanes (AGD).
The DGI publishes an annual ranked list of the largest contributors to the tax base. The AGD does the same for the largest importers in monetary terms. Regarding figures by business sector, only the figures for banks and credit unions are published quarterly by the BRH in fairly detailed form.
Publishing these figures, as the BRH does for companies in the marketplace, would nevertheless help them in their strategic planning, growth strategies, and market choices. Only numbers can be considered key indicators capable of telling the truth about market trends. Without numbers, all considerations relating to markets can only be the product of perceptions that vary from one individual to another. Making public the figures on the evolution of a business sector would help to energize that market.
The opacity mentioned above is most evident in the Haitian show business sector. Many people wonder every day about the revenue figures of our musical groups, particularly the most active ones. The debate about which groups lead the Haitian music market comes up every day in public discourse. Kiyès kap mennen nan « HMI » la?
It is a valid question, in the sense that no one actually has the answer. Calculating the revenue of different musical groups over a given period is an accounting exercise that cannot lie on this subject. The number of contracts fulfilled by a group over a given period can already say a great deal about the demand that exists for that group in a market where competition is becoming increasingly intense.
Do debate moderators discussing leading musical groups intentionally refer to subjective parameters when analyzing market trends in order to satisfy their sensibilities, their groups, or their interests? Or is it simply a fact that one cannot access data that would allow us to evaluate, without any passion, the evolution of the Haitian music sector?
We simply consulted the X account (the Twitter account) of the group Klass, where the group's quarterly calendar is published. Klass aims to be the most structured and disciplined Haitian musical group of its generation. Klass is the most stable group in the music industry, having smoothly transitioned through two guitarist changes after 11 years of existence, with 349 working days in 2023, including 212 rehearsal days. This is the result of the group's impeccable playing and one of the best sound engineers in Compas direct, Gregory Chéry, over the past 7 years.
On this account, one can find information that can be very useful for analyzing the demand profile of the group. Performance dates, the nature of events, venues, and geographic areas of activities are all data points that our musical groups can use to strengthen themselves, position or reposition themselves in the market as part of developing new strategies, depending on their objectives.
Data collected from the four calendars of the group Klass indicate that Ritchie and Pipo's band will have fulfilled one hundred and thirty-seven (137) performance contracts during the year 2023 (provided that the scheduled performances from the date of writing this article through December 31, 2023 take place as planned). The orchestras Septentrional and Tropicana used to fulfill more than 200 contracts per year before the entire Haitian economy was strangled by gangs.
Fêtes champêtres account for a large share of the revenue figures of these two prestigious northern titans. A group like Klass could have reached those numbers in the era when summer season tours and Christmas and year-end celebrations were possible in Haiti.
Sixty-two (62) of Klass's performances took place in Florida, representing 45% of the total, compared to fifteen (15) in New York City, or 10.94%. In the rest of the northern United States (New Jersey, Boston, Long Island, Philadelphia, Indiana, North Carolina, Atlanta, Kansas City, Spring Valley), the group fulfilled 18 performances, or 13.13% of the total.
Outside of the United States, the group gave a total of fourteen (14) performances, representing 10.94% of the group's regular activities for the year 2023. These live performances took Klass twice to the Dominican Republic for 5 shows, three times to Montréal, and once each to Saint-Laurent, Quebec City, Ottawa, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Martinique, and Nassau Bahamas. This year, Ritchie and Pipo's band did not travel to Paris, one of the cities where Compas has notable demand.
Regarding the type of performances, we identified in the group's calendar 21 galas, brunches, and private parties held across the United States and eight festival appearances. These figures represent 21.16% of the group's performance contracts. On February 17, May 21 and 26, June 16, and December 10, 2023, two (2) performances were scheduled on the same day.
The group took time off from April 7 to 16, on July 7, 8, and 9, and on November 10, 11, and 12, totaling 16 days of rest. Klass rehearses more than anything else, with 212 rehearsal days during 2023.
Klass missed two major engagements this year, including the only opportunity to perform on home soil in four years — the 60th anniversary gala of the orchestra Tropicana d'Haïti in Cap-Haïtien, whose cancellation was announced in a public statement — and a planned tour of Africa. The group was absent from this event without providing any explanation to the public.
Analysis of the calendar also revealed that Ritchie and Pipo's band shared the stage three times each with Djakout # 1 and VAYB, twice each with Disip, Harmonik, 5 Lan, Bedjine-Kadilak, Annie Alerte, and Rutshelle Band, and once each with Gabel, T-Vice, Oswald band, Kreyol la, Darline Desca, and Tony Mix.
The number and type of performances allow us to make an approximate estimate of the revenue generated by these activities for the 2023 calendar year, in the absence of actual figures that only access to the company's accounting records would provide.
However, the price for a group like Klass ranges from at least $10,000 in Florida, approximately $12,000 and above in the rest of the United States, $16,000 in the Caribbean, and at least $20,000 in Europe. These figures were provided to us by Akinson Belizaire (Zagalo), who represented the group for 5 years in Haiti, and Philippe Saint-Louis, an iconic figure in the industry.
Using the formula that revenue equals the sum of goods or services sold (before taxes) multiplied by the unit price, we can estimate that the 62 performances in Florida generated $620,000 (62 × $10,000). By the same logic, we can estimate the revenue from the 33 performances in New York City and the rest of the United States at $396,000 (33 × $12,000). Thus, the American market would represent revenues of $1,016,000 USD.
Considering the unit price of $16,000 for performances outside the United States, the 14 performances would have added $224,000 to the coffers. This brings us to an estimated minimum revenue of $1,240,000 for Klass for the year 2023.
In summary, Florida can be identified as the group's primary market. It would account for 49.36% of the group's performance revenue, compared to 31.52% in the rest of the United States and 19.10% outside the United States.
Revenue is an accounting exercise, the management dashboard of any business. It represents the primary sales performance indicator of an organization.
The analysis and interpretation of this data is of paramount importance for any group in the music industry seeking to position itself in the market or relative to its competitors. This dashboard is an indispensable management tool for decision-making within any organization.
The availability of revenue figures for other musical groups would allow us to rank them in terms of overall demand, but also by market and audience. The Port-au-Prince carnival was, in its time, the greatest platform for showcasing our musical groups.
A musical group's performance during the three-day Mardi Gras parade was an indicator that foreshadowed a certain degree of success for the group over the following 12 months. Announced at the Barclays Center in New York on December 31, 2023, Konpa Kingdom — which brought together seven Compas groups and artists along with rapper Baky Popilé — could it become the platform for Compas direct?
This article highlights how numbers could help a business in the music sector better understand its market, its strengths and weaknesses, and better define its strategy for winning new customers and building loyalty within its fan base.
If Haitian musical groups can gradually be brought to rely on data — both internal and external to their organization — to make strategic decisions, seeing them publish their figures is a tall order that would require one or more incentives. The structuring of the music industry and the awarding of prizes and distinctions based on figures could serve as incentives for publishing such data.
The DGI could also help businesses by publishing revenue figures by business sector. Likewise, the regulators of each business sector should follow the example of the financial sector regulator, namely the BRH, and provide detailed data on the evolution of their sector. This would encourage companies not only to perform better, but also to better understand the reality of their market.
Sector-wide figures would also help the State adopt better public policies, as decisions would be supported by more or less reliable data. But we are not there yet. The Haitian State must first strengthen itself to create a secure and legal environment conducive to financial transparency across all sectors.
As for the DGI, we would like to see it publish performance figures for the various sectors of the economy, including the music sector. This would benefit both musical groups and the State. For if, as Yves Joseph (Fanfan Ti Bot) of Tabou Combo hopes, we develop a business culture around music, it can help build a genuine music industry and make it a powerful driver of wealth creation, to echo the words of Jacky Lumarque, rector of Université Quisqueya.