The entertainment company's strategic goal is to make Afro-pop superstars and export them to the world.
Sony Music West Africa's CEO Michael Ugwu had a chat recently with African Business Review.
The British Nigerian entrepreneur is on a mission to take African music to the world.
In the November 2016 edition, Michael Ugwu speaks about the progress and partners, social impact, challenges and the future of Sony Music West Africa.
“We’ve gone from a loss making start up to a break even type business, and now we’re working towards the real growth that we’re looking for. It’s only with this growth that we can reinvest back into the market”, Ugwu says.
On progress and partnerships, Michael says he plans to build a local business first before building a team, as Sony Music West Africa is technically a one-man team.
He has made substantial progress with officials, firstly by signing deals with telcos through which they can now distribute ringtones with South Africa’s giant (MTN), and market its content to the telco’s 60 million plus subscribers. Sony Music West Africa also distributes to Airtel, a global telco that operates in 18 countries across South Asia, Africa and Channel Islands. As for Music Platforms, Ugwu has clinched contracts with iTunes and VEVO.
Speaking of social impact, the CEO says they are trying to build and export local talents like Wizkid to the rest of the world as opposed to already established international acts like Beyonce.
“We wanna be in a situation where we’re actually taking talent from Africa, actually trying to create a global contemporary Afropop Superstar. I think we’re at that age where we have that possibility,” he says.
He also believes he has a wider social responsibility because of his combined identity as a Nigerian and Sony Music Manager.
On challenges and the future, Michael points out transactional limitations with Apple music, saying not everyone in West Africa is bankable, not owning bank cards necessary for payment.
“We’re discussing with Apple and we hope that at some point they can come closer to the market with regards to payment. That would allow us to grow their sevices,” Ugwu explains.
He also talks about the problem of piracy and how Sony is attempting to combat it in collaboration with significant bodies in the industry, and is positive about the future of Sony Music West Africa.
“We’ve been pretty aggressive, we’ve been spending money in the market and that can only grow”
“It sounds a bit cliché or ambitious but music actually has that power within the local context of things,” he concluded.
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