Our conversation with Talibah Safiya for Export 101 is one you don’t want to miss – Talibah has built her own unique path when it comes to developing audiences outside of Memphis and exporting her music and talent, broadly. We dig deep into her approach and she’s candid about the mistakes made and lessons learned – check out the full episode here and keep reading for some top takeaways from her 2019 experiential house concert tour, Deep Water Sound.
What was Deep Water Sound?
In 2019, Talibah embarked on an ambitious house concert tour, leveraging Airbnb to activate homes in different cities and working with city partners to bring the bigger Memphis story with her.
“I really thrive in intimate spaces. In a small crowd you’re going to see my heart really clearly and we have an opportunity to connect.”
What worked?
The partnerships with organizations like Memphis Tourism and Music Export Memphis helped to financially support the effort and brought other perks like media attention and in-kind donations. The audience engagement was 10/10 – in fact, some folks even traveled from one city to the next to see the show multiple times, and Talibah met musicians and artists during the tour who she still collaborates with to this day.
What would she do differently next time?
Ask for help: “Financially we weren’t super organized. That was challenging. We were doing a lot of it ourselves where it might’ve served us to get assistance from other folks. Some folks might have wanted to go and help just for the experience, hop in the Sprinter van and come on tour.”
Leverage technology: “We worked with different musicians in each city, which was part of the strategy because we didn’t have to pay for folks to travel the whole way with us, but it was also a challenge because it meant the show was different in each city and we were meeting musicians in each city. Some of those musicians were great, and some of them were okay. I think now, we would make the show smaller if it needs to be smaller – we know that technology can help to fill in some of the gaps so that the music can feel the same. Say, ‘this is who we’re taking, this is how much it costs,’ and make sure we have what we need to give the same show every night.
Follow-up: “I definitely had room for growth at the time in follow-up with folks in every city. By the time I was done I was like, oh my god, I made it! And it just didn’t happen – and then 2020 was literally right after so… But, I find out later how many people have stuck with me. Truly the mistake was that I didn’t really have any music out at the time. I had some music on Soundcloud, and one song on Spotify. That’s the follow-up mistake – I don’t have anywhere to point these people, ‘hey, go check this music out.’ Now with this next tour it’s totally different: ‘Hey go listen to what I’ve done, but also this new album is coming out.’”
Talibah Safiya on what it means to be export ready: “To be export ready, it’s important to be clear on your “why.” Every show and travel opportunity should have an attached goal, whether it’s to make money, build relationships or expand your audience. It’s imperative to make decisions and go to places where you can attain this goal. Therefore, it’s important to plan according to your specific needs, not how you want to seem in another’s gaze but in alignment with your focused goals. Ask those you admire questions about their experiences and make yourself valuable to them. These things can take you far!”