Award-winning Ghanaian musician Stonebwoy has dismissed the widespread belief that African artistes, particularly Nigerians, are thriving internationally solely because of their affiliations with major record labels.
Speaking in an interview on Asempa FM, the Burniton Music boss argued that investment, not label backing, is the key driver behind African artistes making it onto global stages.
“Every time you just say that because this person is on a record label that is why they are achieving such feats. What is a record label? A record label is not necessarily an investor,” Stonebwoy said.
He emphasized that African musicians need the right kind of investors, individuals or entities willing to support their craft financially, not necessarily contracts with well-known music labels.
Stonebwoy explained that record label deals come in various forms, and not all include funding for an artiste’s growth or promotion.
“Recording labels have different set of agreements. There is licensing agreement that you can license your songs on. Some people have a 360 agreement where the labels are in charge of everything from marketing to everything else so, therefore, they are able to invest their money and everything is coming to them basically,” he stated.
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Stonebwoy also questioned the level of interest major U.S.-based record labels show in African talent. According to him, their focus is largely elsewhere, and the success of Nigerian artistes is often the result of strong backing from independent investors rather than multinational corporations.
“The major labels, most of them are from the outside, America, and they are focused on artists not necessarily African artistes… These our Nigerian counterparts that do the big stuff, they do so many things for themselves, they have independent investors who actually support. It’s not a matter of having a big record label,” he added.
Watch his statement below.
