The name Mixtapes Factory might not ring a bell at the moment, but the idea behind the startup will resonate amongst its target audience.
The Nigerian music industry can indeed be rewarding for those who are willing to do it right.
The Business Director of Mixtapes Factory, Mr. Olatunbosun Musa (Bosun Parrot) in an exclusive interview with PageOne.ng reveals how his team intends to pay maximum royalties to Artistes, DJs, Labels, Publishers and Music Services in one comprehensive platform through negotiated licenses and ground-breaking technology.
What is Mixtapes Factory all about?
The Mixtape Factory platform is designed to facilitate the marketplace between DJs, Rights Holders and Music Services through our negotiated licenses and ground-breaking technology, DJs, Labels, Publishers and Music Services can create and earn together, in one comprehensive platform. A non-stop mix is a compilation of music recorded in a specific order and rhythm to the delight of listeners. This is usually a flow of music to keep events such as family parties, get-together, celebrating success etc in digital and physical copies.
How and why did you come up with this idea?
Well, when I switched career from engineering/production world to the entertainment Industry back in the year 2012, I took time to study and see where I could fit in better because of my passion for the music industry and knowing fully well that there were many other young chaps who were doing well in the industry. I never used to like competition but I challenged myself and decided not to go with the flow of the current. I simply discovered that the entertainment industry was categorized into two segments the mainstream “STREET” and the upstream “INDUSTRY” the mainstream is what I call an open battle field, unstructured, unauthorised and unprofessional where everything goes which was where I choose. I was involved in the practice for about three years just to study the whole process, understand the challenges, and the reasoning of the players in the system that is, the Djs, Marketers and the Artistes. I even went as far as managing some of the top marketers and I did projects that were marked as success within the same circle, and I was able to discover the root cause of the challenge of the mainstream, which was very far from piracy. So I challenged myself and took responsibility with my team to provide effective, structure and legal practice of music distributions that provides a win-win situation for everyone involved in the creation of music from Song Writers, Producers, Artistes, Marketers and Vendors. A situation where everyone can be rewarded for their contribution and impact. So, in a nutshell, I just want to be significant and impact positively on my Industry that’s the zeal.
Some artistes are already making money, what do you intend to do differently to put more money in their pockets?
Making profit is quiet different from maximizing profits. This is not just about the artistes, it’s about all the professionals involved in the 360° sequence of music business from the birth of the idea of a sound till it is been distributed across its reach. A lot of professionals have put in something and they need to be rewarded as well. Before you can move the body into action you have to move the mind first, it’s a moral issue, ‘all man they hustle for the bread.’ We can have marketer and vendor pushing 2017 machines/cars too and on same Awards platforms with the artistes. What we are doing differently to make them more profits is that we promote good music collectively via non-stop selections both physical and digital copies across the globe and they all get their royalties more African sound to the world unlike the archaic system where artists and investors pays a lot of money to push and the job wouldn’t be done well as they wish with no royalty.
What level of support have you received from authorities in the music industry?
This is Nigeria, a country where you have to push yourself and your ideas well by yourself. Let us say in some advanced countries where everything seems ‘normal’, you may need to push a good idea that will impact the industry and add great value to about 100% rate, but trust me, here you may have to give it 900%. We already have Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) support. They acknowledged the Mixtapes Factory project and rated it very high. COSON’s Managing Director Mr. Angus Chinedu also said it has been a solution to the music challenge the industry in facing with piracy. We are still in talks with other relevant bodies in the industry as well.
How are the artistes, DJs and the parties involved reacting to this development?
It’s a dream come through for them all, only a few marketers who haven’t seen the huge advantage and benefit of what we are introducing. They are still grumbling on a low. *Smiles*
This project is capital intensive, how did you raise money to finance it?
Like I said, Mixtapes Factory is all about team work really, I am only privileged to lead. We have professionals working on the project and we are all partners ranging from Legal, Research, IT specialists, Public Relations, Business Developers etc. In terms of finance, we have been funding majorly from within and we are reaching out to prospective investors as well.
Are you also looking at raising more money?
Sure the dream is to take it beyond this clime. We are looking at injecting some more just so we can achieve our ultimate aim.
What has been the greatest challenge while working on the project?
Life itself is a big challenge, but to hit the nail on the head, finance has been one of the major challenges. You know how it is when you have an idea and some people say it to your face that it’s not possible. I and my team have been very focused and resolute. So we told ourselves funds won’t stop this project a year ago and we channeled our energies into a driving force that keeps us winning. And I will say this project is blessed with a great team so we able to overcome any kind of challenges ‘cos they only motivate us to push more.
How do you hope to measure the amount to pay a particular artiste or DJ.
We have a transparency and control system where all sales activities are been monitored from production to distribution. Every artiste and DJs have an account where they can access their personal sales and royalty figures. Mixtapes Factory is practically a system where artistes can also check how their songs are progressing in each region and locality.They can also predetermine which track is fast selling and to what area or location to help them focus.
What is the plan to drive the market for Mixtapes Factory that is, how and where do you plan to sell?
We are selling both on physical and digital platforms. We are also engaging our local vendors, Malls, Eateries, Saloon and marketers in the physical distribution where they will be licensed to distribute.
