Signing, Releasing & Developing Music from Africa to the World

#HowWeListen Live: In Conversation Podcast

"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

Horace Music

Horace Music Nigeria

Trybe Records, and the Chocolate City record label

Boomplay

West & East Africa

Afrobeat

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

Episode Credits:

Artwork by Jen Pmphrey

Hosted by Marc Brown

Series coordinated by Jamie Ford

Produced and edited by Colin MacKenzie

Music by Fin Productions and Oliver Lyu