How to drive direct music business investment through brand structuring and partnerships

However, there are a myriad of talents still waiting for their own big breaks but with limited resources and structure, how do we ensure that the space favors them?

I recently got to chat with music business executive Otoabasi Bassey (Oteejoe) who is passionate about the evolution of the African music space.

His important conversations with the likes of Ckay, Blaqbonez, Chike etc, while leading targeted media campaigns for music creatives Oxlade, Michael O. , Luddy Dave and numerous breakthrough music acts in Nigeria and Africa, gives him a major insight into the music space.

He has also built a strong music Accelerator and Agency out of RAD Digital as he has through this platform enlightened and groomed various music artists/industry players into brands.

He highlights the major problems independent acts face which include production, mixing, mastering, branding, visual asset creation, marketing, promotion. While these are necessary for any artist, they are quite expensive especially for an independent act.

Bassey hints that these limitations can be handled through the collective efforts of more industry players with a common goal of building a sustainable music industry space.

In his words, “To do, so we need more Record Labels, not just names and RC numbers but properly structured labels that have and employ all operational units needed to build individuals into music brands. We need labels that are not afraid to test out a market in new regions rather than cling to the fact that ‘Lagos is the center of Nigerian music.’ We need like minded music industry individuals across regions, willing to take artists through the various stages of artists development in order to help build marketable products out of them through music Accelerators.”

His work as Director on Content Investment (Artist) with a US dollar fund company focusing on African music content investment and digital music asset management is poised at helping build the African music industry to be more systematic.

The goal is meet the global professional standard through their capital and technical empowerment plans alongside delivering prime label services to Record labels, Distributors, Accelerators and independent music acts.

Rounding off our conversation, Bassey encourages artists to ask themselves this important question, “why should a brand invest in me if I am not willing to invest in myself?”

“We need artists that are willing to acknowledge how dynamic the market is and be willing to work hard on improving themselves, their skills and personally build a fan base for themselves without having to wait to be spoon fed success,” he states.

Once they do this, they should find the right motivation and clear brand direction needed to gain support from brands looking to help them further their career.