The Don Jazzy led label struck a multi million dollar equity investment global strategic partnership deal with Kupanda Holdings.The announcement sparked some instant form of excitement among major industry observers as this seems to cast a major stamp on the increased recognition that the Nigerian music industry is enjoying on the global stage.
But beyond the rhetoric and fancy numbers, while also not forgetting that this is not the first attempt at an internationally recognized body in whatever form showing interest in Nigerian music without any concrete result years later, a number of critics continue to ask questions on what the deal actually means for the Nigerian artist and the industry as a whole.
In an exclusive chat with Tega Oghenejobo, the Chief Operating Officer of Mavin Global, he provides a break down of what the deal really means;
”The sustainability of any business in the world is in structure, which means you are putting something in place that is built by people, built by processes.
Being able to build a sustainable structure that will generate possibilities for all our stakeholders, you want to sell more product, this deal is ensuring that if you call us 10 years from now, we will still be in business.
It also means that if you are a young artist out of any country in Africa, you make amazing music and we are able to locate you, we will be able to put you on a platform that has a track record and the right employees that will be committed on the continent and also prepare your music for global consumption.
The Don Jazzy led label has been in existence since 2012 and is home to the likes of Tiwa Savage, Korede Bello, Johnny Drille, Di’ja, D’Prince, Dr. SID, Ladipoe, DJ Big N and DNA, but Tega confirms that with this deal there are plans to sign more artists across the continent.
‘Of course, the plan is to expand within the continent and also internationally as well.
And to make everything right, we have to put certain things in place but what I can say is in the very foreseeable future, we will be looking at signing more new artists, we have been looking at a few over the last 2 to 3 years, so yes, our job as a record label is to locate the superstars and break them.
While a number of deals are often announced earlier than the eventual activation period with no actual start date in sight, he hints at a timeline when the people should expect to see the new deal in actual play.
‘The journey ahead is for the brave, the courageous, the passionate and also the innovative, so the foundation of what we want to build is not a shallow one, a lot of people don’t see what goes underneath.
So for us, what I will say is the creative industry will start getting a sense of seeing things happen when we kick off putting the right set of people to come in and build this.”
While this is seemingly a huge deal for the label, some continue to ask how much of a ripple effect will be created that will benefit the industry as a whole and he explains that both in the short and long term, there is no way that the success of this deal will not become a success for the entire industry.
‘The industry is doing an amazing job, where it is beginning to get some form of global success.
The vision has always been to build some form of a reliable platform, something that can outlive us and we can see other people come in and join us in the business.
So short term, it will spark the right conversations around what is important for our industry and how to grow. Mavin has been planning a lot by themselves, now what people will start seeing is Mavin planning with them.
Some of the events that we have, some of the information we are getting, some of the things that we feel we should be talking about, let’s have this conversations to further position the industry because we all have a role to play as an emerging industry.
With so much attention on the genres across Africa, how are we curating the industry for the right global consumption?”
This deal is expected to enable the company to strengthen its advantage as an industry leader by developing brand partnerships that support its artists’ values and stories.
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