Economic lessons from ‘The Voice’

Originally appeared on The Morning

By Dhananath Fernando

The global reality TV platform ‘The Voice Sri Lanka’ Season 2 concluded a few weeks ago, with Rameesh Sashinka, fondly known as ‘Ramiya,’ emerging as the winner. Ramiya comes from a very humble background in Aluthgama and works at the beach, providing services such as surfing for tourists.

In vernacular terms and according to Ramiya, he is a ‘welle kolla’ or a beach boy, who walked away as the winner of ‘The Voice Sri Lanka’ despite getting eliminated in the knockout rounds. His journey serves as an example of how a functioning market system can lift people out of poverty even in a short period of time.

‘The Voice’ is structured around freedom of choice. In the first round called the ‘blind auditions,’ coaches have the ability to select singers by pressing a button and turning their chair. Generally, talented singers get at least three out of the four chairs to turn, but in Ramiya’s case, only coach Umariya turned around.

In economic terms, coach Umariya provided Ramiya with market access so that he could test himself in a competitive environment. According to the rules of the competition, if multiple coaches show interest, the singer has a choice of selecting a coach based on their preference.

A market system works on competition and having diverse choices makes the market more competitive. Market access is very important and licensing schemes that restrict market entry can hinder people such as Ramiya.

Imagine a situation where Ramiya had to obtain a licence from the Government to prove his talent and a certificate from his Grama Niladhari to prove his skill. Ramiya would have still been in the queue trying to obtain the necessary certificates. As important as minimal regulation and market access is, a competitive regulatory framework with transparency by the organisers is a must.

In the third round, Ramiya was eliminated. ‘The Voice’ platform has an option for eliminated contestants to make a comeback through a new coach. Coach Supun, who was the fifth coach, picked Ramiya to be a part of his team.

In economic terms, this is called a safety net. In a competitive market system there cannot be only winners – winning and losing are two sides of the same coin. In order to have a resilient economy, society should have measures in place to support and protect those who experience setbacks. That safety net is the encouragement for them to bounce back and win. That is why our Government should have better focus on building robust social safety nets.

It is important to recognise Ramiya’s competition strategy as well. He focused on a specific genre of music, but he was very skillful in bringing diversity within his chosen genre. The economic lesson for us is that every nation’s economy is quite different from the next and no one can excel in everything. However, within our competitive environment, we can add diversity and capitalise on our strengths.

Ramiya, the humble man from the Aluthgama beach, competed on a global platform and brought songs by the likes of Freddie Silva and Upali Kannangara to a global stage by singing in our vernacular. The lesson is that Sri Lankans have the potential to succeed on a global platform and we should not be fearful to compete. Instead, we should embrace the competition as we are capable of winning. There is no point in hiding when we have the capability of winning as Sri Lankans.

On the other hand, even Ramiya’s most loyal fanbase knows he is not the most talented person in the competition. What he brings is a unique messaging and entertainment to fill the market gap. From an economic and financial perspective, he offers value for money or value for the time people spend on entertainment. He brings a breath of fresh air when he performs. This is a concept that we as Sri Lankans have failed to understand. Our focus has always been on the lowest price, while overlooking value for money.

Let’s take train services as an example. As the Government was able to offer the lowest price, we decided to keep the train service under State control. However, it does not measure up when you compare it in terms of providing value for money. The railway service is plagued by poor quality and delays. It is far better to have a well-functioning train service, even at a higher price, compared to a poorly functioning one.

In many reality TV programmes, unfortunately, winners fail to succeed in their careers later on. The reason can also be explained through economics. In economics, real wealth is not just money; it is the ability to recreate wealth, the science of making two bucks out of one.

Songs being sung by the contestants in reality shows are mainly composed by established artists in the field. The original songs have the chemistry or the logic of recreating wealth. If a person who is selected as a winner fails to figure out the science of recreating the same entertainment value, very often they will fail. That is why lottery winners often become poorer than they were, because they do not know how to recreate wealth.

The reality is that markets exist, whether we like it or not. Markets are not always perfect and they cannot solve all the problems in the world. However, it is the most reasonable solution we have at hand to take our people out of poverty.

In ‘The Voice’ Season 1, the winner was Harith Wijeratne, a medical doctor. Now, the winner is a beach boy (with all due respect) from Aluthgama. When markets work, it rewards the most competitive person who maximises limited resources. Markets respect diversity (in the quarter-finals of ‘The Voice,’ Ramiya had an intro rap for the song he sang).

This is another great economic fable from the Sri Lankan community and Ramiya is the one who is presenting it to reality.

The opinions expressed are the author’s own views. They may not necessarily reflect the views of the Advocata Institute or anyone affiliated with the institute.