Godwin Tom, Nigerian talent manager, says it makes no sense that no university in Africa is offering music business as a programme despite its inherent potentials.
The entrepreneur was speaking on events that led to the establishment of Music Business Academy (MBA) for Africa at the YouTube Music press meeting on Tuesday.
Tom said he was motivated to put up the initiative after discovering that several people in Africa lack a basic understanding of how the music industry works.
The music executive also recalled how he was trying to employ people who would work for him years back but could not get one with vast knowledge about the music industry.
According to him, the African music market has an estimated 1.7 billion people with a median age of 19.7.
Tom said with such potentials, learning the business side of the music industry is imperative, hence his decision to establish MBA to groom young people.
“It makes no sense to me that we have about 1,200 varsities in Africa and none of them is offering music business as a course in a market where there are about 1.4 to 1.7 billion people and the median age is 19.7,” he said.
“That’s why we decided to come in. We are ensuring that we put together global professionals and people with African perspectives to come in and teach the students.”
On services offered by MBA, he said: “What we have done is to set up a programme in two major phases. The first phase is actual teaching where we teach the students about copyright, the industry, among others.
“After the teaching, the students are then divided into departments and asked come up with a record label where they will work directly with artistes as well as writers from scratch to develop an album that they would market.”
Tom has worked with several heavyweights in Nigeria’s entertainment landscape including MI Abaga, Wizkid, Davido, Wande Coal, Ice Prince, Jesse Jagz, Show Dem Camp, Waje, Rooftop Mcs, Bez and Beverly Naya.
In an interview with TheCable Lifestyle, the talent manager had talked about his quest to see music business in the curricula of universities across Nigeria with the aim of grooming future music executives.
He also spoke about the idea behind his Music Business Africa (MBA) programme.
YouTube Music Supports Two Nigerian Organisations
During the event, YouTube Music also reaffirmed its commitment to supporting African creative voices by providing financial grants, capacity development training, and advisory to two organisations that nurture African creative talent and export it.
In keeping with YouTube Music’s commitment to the development of the African creative industry, Briteswan and iManage Africa Entertainment Limited will receive support to help them scale up their initiatives to develop music creatives on the continent.
The move is set to directly impact an estimated 300 participants in initiatives led by these organisations.
“We are committed to exporting African music to listeners across the world and want to continue to play our part in the development of the continent’s rapidly growing creative economy especially with respect to music”, said Addy Awofisayo, YouTube’s head of music, Sub-Saharan Africa.
On his part, Sunday Dare, minister of youths and sports development, said: “The rise of Nigeria’s globally celebrated musical artists points to the opportunities that exist in the creative economy.
“As we work towards the post-Covid 19 recovery of industries, it is important to be intentional about unearthing brimming talent and potential among creatives – many of whom are young people.
“YouTube Music’s dedication to the growth of music creatives in the region is well-timed and commended.”
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