Signing, Releasing & Developing Music from Africa to the World
Episode Notes
“I’m reaching out to people because of their work ethic and because of their consistency. I believe in their journey and I feel like it’s only a matter of time before something huge happens”
Our guest on today’s episode is Obinna Agwu. Newly appointed A&R Executive at Horus Music Nigeria, Obinna Agwu is also an artiste manager and music business consultant and podcaster with years of experience working in the Nigerian music industry. He is experienced in working closely with a variety of industry partners and managing internal/external relationships. As mentioned he also hosts a music industry-based podcast known as The Listening Sessions Podcast.
Prior to joining Horus Music, Obinna worked at Boomplay as their Artiste Relations Manager, executing over twenty major releases and securing top talents like ILLBliss, Laycon, Hotyce and Ugochee for Boomplay’s Hip-Hop initiative, “Pass The Mic”. Obinna also oversaw planning and rollout for El Dee The Don’s ‘Undeniable’ whilst working at Trybe Records, and while at the Chocolate City record label (generally regarded as one of the most successful indigenous urban record labels in Africa) he oversaw the Plantation Boiz’s Plan B album, And The Bass is Queen by Lindsey Abudei, M.I Abaga’s debut album ‘Talk About It’, and many other projects.
Marc and Obinna talk about how artists can be better prepared to help move their music and careers forward. They also talk about the history of the music industry in Nigeria, the Afrobeats explosion and why there is more to Nigeria than Afrobeats.
Obinna spoke to us from Lagos, Nigeria.
Show Notes:
#HowWeListen Live: In Conversation
Trybe Records, and the Chocolate City record label
The Listening Sessions Podcast
00:10 – Byta.com
02:35 – From Boomplay to Horace Music Nigeria
04:22 – Radio promotion back in the good old days & A&R
09:11 – Artists out front, maybe too soon
11:46 – People expect excellence
15:10 – South African music industry
17:00 – Nigerian music industry relationship with South Africa
22:53 – From radio to steaming and Boomplay
27:00 – How do new artists approach the music industry in Nigeria
29:30 – Are Nigerian artists looking to sign to major labels
35:35 – How does Horace Music support creators
37:25 – How do artists get to 20 000 streams
42:45 – How do artists decide how to develop their careers
45:43 – A&R is a new concept in Nigeria. Payola
50:40 – the vibrant music scene in Nigeria
54:00 – The Listening Sessions Podcast
55:00 – Byta.com
Music by Fin Productions and Oliver Lyu
Show Contributors
Marc Brown
Obinna Agwu
Jamie Ford
Jen Pomphrey
Colin Mackenzie
Fin Productions
Oliver Lyu