Which work’s better?

The creative industry has for a long time been undervalued over the white collar jobs or labor intensive jobs such as the manufacturing industry. Covid-19 came to settle this, to show the importance of both and that none is more secure than the other.

One of the hard hit industries by the pandemic is the entertainment industry, the creatives in this industry have suffered losses, some even died out of depression such as Joseph Musyoki Kivundu alias Kasee, his body was found lying by the roadside in Nginduri, Kinoo after he had gone drinking with friends. According to Nairobi News, It was widely reported that the rib cracker had fallen into depression.

The manufacturing industry was also affected, with a large number of organizations resulting to downsizing their employees. In both industries some have responded innovatively to the challenges and this has seen their business/talent grow bigger and become better than it was before.

The manufacturing industries have responded positively to the demand for Covid-19 related goods. Some of the things they have shifted their focus to is the production of essential goods such as personal, protective PPEs, sanitizers, masks, immunity boosting products etc.

The creative sector which includes; musicians and various artists have been innovative by embracing technology, which has become their new platform. It has favored some more than others and even gotten them to a better light than they were in before the pandemic hit.

Among those that technology has favored are Justin Marvin a gospel artist popularly known as Just Marv and his producer Austin. Just Marv says that it is during the pandemic that he has been able to explore the digital platform since there was no longer physical meetings. This he says has brought his number of followers from zero to almost 200 within a short span of time. He was challenged by the situation he was in, and to make sure he stayed afloat, he came up with random bars for his channel almost weekly. He explained that random bars are short freestyle music. He did the recording, video shooting and posting on the same day. He attributes the rise in the number of his followers to the consistency of his random bars, and says his audience are now always looking forward to more music from him, which is also a good challenge.

Austin his producer says that now during the pandemic, the people from the other industries are more dependent on them for hope and entertainment, especially due to the pressure and stress brought about by the effects of Covid-19. He says that this is their white collar job which earns them their living and insists that each industry is important and they need one another to build the country.

Ndoto Nzyimi who is an artist says that it has been hard since the pandemic hit, with less or no exhibitions, therefore making it hard to sell his work, which are drawings. His other clients were schools which when closed down during Kenya’s lockdown, also to a large extent locked down his business. He however found his solution in the digital space. This is through print on demand, an international free site which allows him to use his designs and plunge them on various merchandise and then when a client makes a purchase he gets his pay. This he says has taken him from his comfort zone which was the local market to the international market.

Soila Maleek who is in the manufacturing industry, does various customizations for her clients. She used to get big orders from clients before the pandemic hit, but once it did, her business went down drastically where she confesses to almost giving up on it. She however continued promoting her business through her social media platforms, and also responded to some of the Covid demands such as masks, both on small and large scale. She says that her business has not picked up yet but is slowly gaining momentum.

From the above story, it can be concluded that the music, art and manufacturing industries were all affected by Covid-19 and each had a fair chance to innovate and rise or stay afloat. This therefore goes to say that all of the industries are equal and none is better than the other.