For Abuchi Peter Ugwu, CEO of Chocolate Metropolis Music, one of many nation’s most influential music labels, the largest shift in Nigerian music during the last decade isn’t simply the sound, it’s the know-how. From the period of hawking CDs in Alaba to monitoring TikTok spikes and Spotify information, the enterprise of music is now deeply formed by tech.

“Know-how modified every little thing,” Ugwu advised TechCabal in an interview. “Ten years in the past, if you happen to had successful, you needed to go to Alaba.” Now, a tweet can spark a world report, he provides.

However virality alone doesn’t pay. Ugwu, who has over 20 years of expertise within the music trade, argues that the majority artists chasing TikTok fame received’t see a dime with out construction within the new streaming economic system, the place 1,000,000 Nigerian streams are value lower than a sixth of the identical quantity within the UK.

“Streaming is simply the entry level,” he says. “Solely the folks with actual techniques really receives a commission.”

Whereas his group makes use of AI for CRM, influencer evaluation, and advertising and marketing, he’s skeptical about AI-generated songs changing human creativity. “Music needs to be true,” he says. “As soon as you are taking away the human component, you are taking away what makes music.”

This interview has been edited for size and readability.

Out of your expertise within the music trade, significantly within the final decade, how would you say know-how has modified the panorama of the trade?

Know-how modified every little thing. For instance, one of many breakout artists of my period was CKay’s “Love Nwantiti”—that music went about eight occasions platinum. You possibly can see know-how was key to that progress.

Ten years in the past, when you had an album or successful music, the best way you pushed it was to go to Alaba. And when there was traction on the album, you bought it to Alaba and picked up ₦3 million for the masters.

I managed MI for about 15 years. MI’s greatest album—MI2: The Film—was bought to Alaba. I feel Ahbu Ventures paid ₦3 million for the rights. We didn’t get any cash after that, and that album bought 30,000 copies in half-hour or so. It was an incredible album, however we made solely ₦3 million.

In that period, there was Fb, and Twitter began popping, and now we’ve transitioned to platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, and different DSPs. Earlier than we even speak about DSPs, social media got here and adjusted the sport: the best way we market, the best way we devour, and the best way we create content material.

To start with, you’ll want to take into consideration know-how, particularly social media, as an equalizer. Earlier than, if you happen to had a great music, you needed to go to Lagos, which has over 40 radio stations, and distribute the music to every of them. However now with know-how, as soon as somebody has a great following, they simply tweet, and all people picks it up. That’s why we now have artists who can compete as a result of know-how has introduced all people collectively. It’s an equalizer. You don’t want so many assets or cash; with the precise technique, you win.

You then come again to the platforms. It’s fairly unlucky that the 2 greatest platforms—Spotify and Apple Music—don’t promote music. They promote subscriptions. Spotify’s mannequin is the subscription. Apple Music sells subscriptions and information. Music is the tip product. As a result of folks want to come back to the platform to expertise music, they care about what music has essentially the most demand, not essentially what’s the most effective.

Now we’re on this period. Know-how shapes every little thing we do. Even with us as a group, what I at all times inform folks is that there’s a candy spot between creativity, know-how, and information. If you hit that intersection, you win.

Out of your expertise at Chocolate Metropolis, how has the rise of streaming platforms modified your operation, when it comes to expertise discovery, music distribution, and income era?

We have to begin eager about streaming because the entry level. You know the way all people simply cares about streaming—everybody needs that viral impact to make cash and money out. However even if you get that viral impact, solely individuals who have construction actually receives a commission.

For instance, if you happen to go to TikTok daily, there are such a lot of people who stream. However how do you change that streaming into getting paid? It’s important to have the right construction. When you’ve gotten that, you may monetize correctly.

Now, if you would like your music to blow, you attempt to make it go viral on TikTok. However TikTok doesn’t actually pay for streams. So that you would possibly get that viral set, however not cash. And if you dig into streaming, you notice one stream within the UK is value six streams in Nigeria. For those who get 6 million streams right here, that’s equal to 1 million streams from the UK or the US. They pay us a fraction of what they pay worldwide markets

Streaming has come to remain. It has given us the chance to be creators and create worth from our work. It has moved the trade to the following level.

We will’t speak about streaming with out speaking concerning the fraud in streaming, like streaming farms. Is it as a result of trending is likely one of the surest methods to get virality that artists are incentivised to inflate numbers? Can know-how assist clear up this?

To be sincere with you, it’s a really delicate and complex matter. Generally the artists don’t do it themselves. Somebody would possibly ship an electronic mail saying, “Hey, we are able to get your artist to pattern on this platform.” Most simply say, “Oh, you are able to do it? Ship me an bill.” Then they pay for it.

Apple Music not too long ago mentioned one of many greatest artists had 20 million streams wiped off as a result of they suspected they had been faux.

Music is about notion. What folks attempt to do is recreation the system. As soon as they’re primary in Nigeria, they use that as a advertising and marketing instrument to amplify their work. When a curator places your music on a great playlist, that alone can generate 10 million streams. That’s how highly effective playlists are. Curators search for the largest artists in a market. Artists recreation the system to get there.

However basically, it’s fraud. We’re doing ourselves a disservice. It impacts everybody: the PR folks, the radio folks, the road promo guys. You begin to really feel like they aren’t needed as a result of you may simply recreation the system and push the music. It’s one thing the trade ought to frown upon as a result of it impacts the system.

On using synthetic intelligence (AI) within the music trade, particularly in Nigeria, what use instances do you see?

AI has come to remain. We have to get with this system. At Chocolate Metropolis, we’re engaged on a CRM platform to automate most of our processes end-to-end.

Information is huge for us. We’ve got Chartmetric and some information factors. For instance, I need to know daily if there’s a spike on Younger Jonn’s music, on CKay’s music, on Blaqbonez’s music. The place is the spike coming from? Most of those platforms are AI-powered. 

As soon as I see traction, I bounce on it. Velocity is essential. As soon as your viewers loses curiosity, they’re gone. AI has helped make this course of simpler, even all the way down to automation. Most of our processes are automated—even music manufacturing.

Now we’ve seen folks create total songs, even albums, utilizing AI. Is that this one thing you’ll do at Chocolate Metropolis? Do you see this pattern changing into mainstream?

To be sincere, I’ve listened to some nice AI-generated initiatives. For me, music needs to be true to your self. And I really feel like you may by no means get that from AI.

For music to be the reality, it has to come back from somebody, it needs to be who you might be. So I perceive the hazard. If this takes off, it may wipe out an entire ecosystem. I don’t know. I’m not a giant fan of that occuring. As soon as you are taking away the human component, you are taking away what makes music.

Are you saying you don’t see the speedy use case for AI in music manufacturing?

On the subject of creating uncooked information—music in items to make an entire music—some nice classics from the band Roden had been recreated utilizing AI-generated sounds and vocals. That’s genius.

However when AI replaces people solely, when AI does the voices and every little thing, you are taking out the human component. Music is 50% publishing and 50% masters. Everybody who got here to create the music owns 50% of the publishing; everybody who paid for it owns the masters. If AI takes over the inventive course of, that can undoubtedly occur. However I’m simply not a fan as a result of it removes what makes music.

You talked about Chocolate Metropolis is utilizing AI in operations. Are you able to elaborate on some use instances?

We’ve got a B2B company that gives leisure belongings for prime purchasers. A part of what we do is run campaigns. For instance, how we choose influencers for a marketing campaign is thru an AI platform we use on this market known as Humanz.

What Humanz does is that after your profile is open (not personal), I can entry your information. I put in your title, and I can see what number of followers you’ve gotten, what number of are faux. That’s how detailed the data is.

AI is even utilized in advertising and marketing. Once I’m operating adverts for an artist, AI can inform me the place I’ll get the most effective returns.

One concern with AI in trade operations is that it might take jobs. What’s your perspective?

When your corporation begins rising, you need to ask if you happen to’re operating a enterprise or an NGO. It’s important to optimize. AI is right here to remain. The great factor is, folks function AI. So the query is: how does everybody equip themselves in order that AI turns into a instrument that permits them, quite than replaces them?

The place do you see the intersection of music and know-how going within the subsequent decade, and the way is Chocolate Metropolis Music getting ready for that future?

One key factor is that a part of our ethos and aim is to allow creatives to create freely. We’re not going to go left as a result of know-how says so. We imagine know-how was made to reinforce productiveness, not for folks to serve know-how.

No matter what the longer term holds, our ethos stays. However one factor is for certain: AI and tech are going to be big. As an organization, we’re constructing a big information and tech group to review developments. We’ve been right here for 20 years, and we’re working to be right here for the following 30. We all know we now have to maintain innovating.