Veteran Nigerian rapper, Eldee, recently spoke about the bitter relationship that exists between artistes and record labels.
He made his view known via his podcast, and in a recent interview when he was asked about the reason why he chose to do that, he said that the relationship between record labels and artistes was important to the growth of the Nigerian music industry and he had to say something about it.
He said, “Music in Nigeria has hit the global stage; this was the dream that I had when I was starting out. It is not at its peak yet, because we need other artistes to do more tours globally. Music has really grown and it is doing a lot . The reason I started my own record label initially was because no one believed in my kind of music . I have never been in that position of being signed under a record label. However, l know a lot of people who have been in that situation; the reason I did the podcast was because I wanted to be sure I shared that perspective from a non-biased and unemotional position ; a lot of times when we talk about these things- (artiste and record label relationship); it is always from an emotional standpoint ; in the sense that everyone takes the position of the artiste because that is the person they are probably close to. Nobody looks at the business side of it and how it impacts the entire ecosystem. Our music is so powerful right now, that if the top labels come together, we can actually compete with some of the major labels internationally . But we don’t have one cohesive force to drive this to where it ought to be. The focus is not on the bitter relationship; it is on the fact that there needs to be a better understanding of how the music business works and why everyone needs to understand the role that they play in that ecosystem. If you understand how record labels work, when you are signed to one ; your expectations of what the record label should do for the artistes and what they should do by themselves to be successful will be very clear . This is not clear to a lot of people. Some people think a record label is just a sponsor; an institution that is supposed to help them get out there. They forget that the record label is going to use their money and leverage their relationships and networks to get the artiste to that point and they are not doing that because they are a charity organisation . They are spending their own money because they are also a business venture.
“ If people who want to invest in music recognise the fact that artistes after a year want to run away; then no one would invest in music and the entire music ecosystem will collapse ; and unfortunately, that is what is happening.”