One week to the second edition of Open Mic 254, we realized we had to make a very critical decision. We realized we would not be able to recover the money invested into the event and needed to decide whether to have the event or cancel it. For the event to happen 100,000 was needed which meant 1000 ticket sales. So, we took the risk of lowering ticket prices for the event from 500 to 100. Previously tickets had been retailing at a flash sale rate of 254 but even at this price, tickets were still struggling to sell. Once the decision to change ticket prices to 100 was done and changed on the website we decided that at this point it wasn’t about the money as we were not going to make any money but about making sure the event happens and the over 50 people that had signed up got the chance to perform as promised. We took a loan of 100,000 that money and tickets went on sale for 100 bob. It was on Monday that on Twitter, a tweet was scheduled for midnight after the day of the event. The tweet said, “Fuck money, we want to change the Kenyan music industry.”
The tweet was not meant to mean anything. A former presenter however took this as an opportunity to attack the station and responded by saying “Why don’t you start by paying your niggas?” After the event on Saturday, the original tweet had been sent out as scheduled and it was not until Sunday evening that Radio 254 became aware of any responses to the tweet that had been scheduled. On noticing the Twitter user’s response, Radio 254 offered an apology to the former radio presenter. The former presenter using her influence and friends on Twitter began to troll the radio station for not having funds and fundraising. Radio 254 does not pay its radio presenters as the station is a nonprofit and does not earn money from the sale of any goods and services. Radio presenters however have opportunities to make money from partnerships. This presenter’s values did not align with ours, we however wish them the best. We will change the Kenyan music industry. If that means not making money along the way thats okay. Everybody has a choice, we chose to keep fighting to give Kenyan music a chance on the global scene.
In 2023, we began our events calendar with a listening party for AAMANI at our Muthaiga Suites studio before officially launching the new studio location at an event that was attended by supporters of the Keep Radio 254 Alive campaign that helped Radio 254 equip the new radio studio. On April 20th, Radio 254 had a smoke and paint event at Summer House in Karen, Nairobi. It was during this […]
