By Christian Agadibe
Michael Ugwu was the former CEO/GM of Sony Music West Africa before moving to FreeMe Digital Ltd where he is also the Chief Executive Officer.
In this interview, Ugwu revealed how Nigerian artistes can remain relevant in the music industry, and why it’s practically impossible for an artiste signed to another artiste’s label to grow bigger than the one who signed him. Here are excerpts:
Can you share your experience working with big names in and outside Nigeria?
Frankly speaking, it is not easy working with superstars because at the end of the day, you find out that they are also human beings; they have feelings and they get angry. All in all, when you work with successful people, you find out that they don’t have two heads. They are all set out to work hard. Does everyone like Wizkid? No. Does everyone love Davido? No. But they still put in their best. They are ready to make sacrifices, go above and beyond to achieve their dreams. So, one thing I have learnt working with successful people is that they have a different way of thinking; their minds exist on a higher plane.
Working with artistes is actually a risky venture. You can work with ten artists and nine out of them would fail. The failure rate is high. For these people to be who they are, thousands had to fall off the value chain. For them to thrive, for them to have a career for over 10 years and not die off after one hit song, is not an easy feat. So, I learnt that some of it is luck, some preparation, some is about having the right team around you, and some is just about risk taking. Be ready to be at the right place at the right time and create your own luck.
How do you feel about Nigerian artistes and their international image just like back in the days when Jamaican music was appreciated globally?
The Jamaican market was very approximate to the US market, so I believe that because of that a lot of Jamaican artistes relocated to America. So, there was no real growth in the Jamaican music industry on ground. The artistes had to fly to New York to record songs and chill. Most of them almost became like US residents, and that helped destabilize their industry.
In Nigeria, we are doing everything we can to build up the capacity of the music executives, songwriters, music producers, studios, and venues. We need to do better. But there are some things we need to do to make sure that Nigeria remains relevant as the melting point, and as a factory for producing these talents so that what happened to reggae doesn’t happen to us.
Are we not drifting to that point where most of our artistes are moving to America and doing music with American artistes?
One thing is that if you decide to leave Nigeria for long enough, they will forget you and the next person will fill the gap, and you would lose your relevance. I saw that happen when I was working with D’banj some years ago. He was chasing that deal with Kanye West and Good Music, and he went to spend so much time in America and left a big gap. So, when he got stuck in Atlanta, people came and filled the gap. Wizkid and Davido filled the gap. Don Jazzy quickly came back and realigned himself with Mavins, and started working smart. D’banj never recovered!
Tems is another artiste that I don’t think has the same influence like Ayra Star, because she spends most time hanging with Americans and hardly comes home. People don’t care; after some time, they’ll focus on who they see, which is Ayra Star. As Nigerians, we like to make money and hustle. If you like, take Burna Boy to America, Nigerians would find a way to grow new artistes, and the cycle continues.
How would you advise artistes like Timaya who has been in the music industry for long to keep up with the trends and keep waxing strong?
The answer is to work with the younger generation. Right now, one of my artistes is set with Iyanya on his next album. Iyanya as we know is old school. I have worked with Iyanya over the last 10 years and Paul is just twenty years old. So, this combination brings new perspective and style to the table. Iyanya loves the music they are making. So, the secret is to be ready to work with the younger generation of artistes. That is how Timaya has also stayed relevant; he has worked with young music directors, songwriters, producers and featured young artistes. Instead of 2Face, he would want to feature Shallipoppi and Odumodublvck. He has to understand he needs to tap into the younger market and make music that is trending in style.
Nobody wants to hear ‘Plantain Boy’ anymore; they want to hear ‘I no send’ kind of music because these Gen Zs don’t send anybody at all. So, that’s what is happening; even Kaycee had to work with younger producers and the likes to stay relevant. It is not easy. I have lots of respect for people like Kaycee, Iyanya and Timaya, who are of the last generation but are staying relevant in this generation, doing what they can. So, all in all, it helps to tap into the younger generation talent otherwise it can’t work.
Can you take us through the journey of signing and developing an artiste in your company?
It is a tough one. Before I sign an artiste, you have to meet certain criteria. Promoting an artiste in this environment now, you would be spending between N20 million and N40 million per song for it to be done properly. So, this kind of decision cannot be taken lightly because that is not small money.
Yes, if the song works out well and you have a hit, you would make a lot of money. So, we start off with making sure the song is good, then the marketing team comes up with the plans, and we figure out how to activate and post the music on Spotify and Apple Music amongst others, then contact radios stations for promotion. Also, you meet the DJs in the clubs on the mainland and Island. If your artiste is from a certain place like Port Harcourt, you have to alert the DJs in Port Harcourt and engage students in Enugu to help drive the music in the South East.
Next stop are the social media influencers on TikTok, Instagram amongst others. You figure out how to work with their audiences and then buy advert space. Subsequently, you get to decide whether there would be a music video or not. When the decision is made, the art and media team goes to find location, and you are filming lots of content for social media. If the song is doing well, you have to go meet a music director who would give you a budget of N10 million or so for the proposed music video. This is expensive because you have to shoot video of a certain standard if you want to compete with artistes like Rema, Davido and Wizkid. In fact, a lot goes into developing an artiste.
Considering the Mohbad/Naira Marley case, would you say the new trend of artiste signing artiste is a good thing for the Nigerian entertainment industry?
It is good and it is bad. One thing about an executive like me trying to make an artiste blow is that no one cares about me. I don’t have one million followers. If I say something, nobody really listens. But I have the strategy and resources to help in promoting an artiste, while people like Naira Marley might have one million followers, and if he tells his fans to stream a particular song, they’ll all listen to the song. It helps when you are signed to Davido, Naira Marley and all those big artistes that would guide their fans to you; it helps discovery because their fan base is already built up.
This is where it is good. But where it is bad is that it is almost impossible for an artiste signed to another artiste’s label to be bigger than the artiste who signed him. There is no artiste under Davido that is bigger than Davido; the same thing goes with Wizkid and Naira Marley. So, it boils down to the question of if the person is happy being a C or D level artiste, and never to be bigger than your master. There are very few exceptions to this scenario like Olamide who has made Asake and Fireboy bigger than him. But that is one example amongst many, and it’s possible because Olamide’s rap doesn’t do well internationally, whilst Asake’s Afro fusion even though it’s Yoruba, it’s rhythmic and it works for them.
Then you have an artiste like the D’Prince that signed Rema. He doesn’t want to release music anymore, so that makes Rema bigger than D’Prince. There are one or two situations where this happens but largely speaking it is rare. Personally, I don’t advise artistes signing artistes. I advise that if you feel you are talented and have what it takes, then start with a structured business that can develop you into a number one artiste that can compete with Rema, Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy. Let us be realistic, if Burna Boy were signed to Davido, he would not be where he is today.
What are the benefits for an artiste that gets signed by your record label?
Realistically, the benefits are much. You are going to get a structured team; we have a marketing department, A&R department, customer care department, and videography/photography department. In addition to that, we have four studios where artistes can record their music. We have engineers, in-house producers, video equipment, and concert space. Because it is a structured business, you get to understand the music business for yourself.