MBW’s World Leaders is an everyday sequence through which we flip the highlight towards a few of the most influential business figures overseeing key worldwide markets. On this function, we communicate to Olukorede ‘Kay’ Ikazoboh, Head of Nigeria for Virgin Music Group. World Leaders is supported by SoundExchange.
Olukorede ‘Kay’ Ikazoboh tells us she acquired her begin within the music enterprise by following the artwork, “not the business”.
Rising up in South London within the UK, Ikazoboh tells us that her upbringing “was a mix of two worlds”.
“Inside my residence, it was Lagos (in keeping with my mother and father ); outdoors, it was South London,” she says.
Ikazoboh explains that “music was the language that bridged the hole” between that geographic divide.
Her profession started by supporting artists she believed in, earlier than evolving into “constructing buildings round expertise” – pushed by what she describes as “a twin ardour for music and entrepreneurship”.
That zeal led her from founding her personal company, Kimani Moore Leisure – the place she guided the careers of artists like Santi and Tay Iwar – to working for Warner Music Group, the place she headed diaspora advertising and marketing and A&R for rising markets.
“My imaginative and prescient was and is threefold: respect the tradition, scale the infrastructure, and spend money on the individuals.”
Olukorede ‘Kay’ Ikazoboh
In September 2023, Ikazoboh was named Head of Virgin Music Nigeria. She calls the appointment “a major milestone” in her profession, however says that “the true highlights are the moments of belief when an impartial label proprietor, an entrepreneur I deeply respect, calls me or my workforce earlier than anybody else”.
She provides: “That’s once I know we’re not simply doing offers; we’re constructing a legacy.”
Below her management, Ikazoboh says Virgin Music Nigeria has positioned itself as “the house for the fashionable African music entrepreneur.”
The timing couldn’t be extra important. IFPI just lately reported that recorded music revenues in Sub-Saharan Africa grew 22.6% year-on-year in 2024, surpassing USD $100 million for the primary time – a milestone that Ikazoboh believes is “lengthy overdue” and “just the start.”
Virgin Music Nigeria’s technique underneath Ikazoboh has been intentionally targeted on what she phrases “genuine integration”.
The corporate has cast key partnerships with native leisure corporations like Dvpper and just lately prolonged its attain by partnering with RainLabs in Ghana to help expertise throughout West Africa.
Ikazoboh’s philosophy round VMG’s presence available in the market extends far past conventional distribution fashions. “We’re not a passive distributor; we’re an energetic improvement associate,” she explains.
“We offer the strategic framework that turns a music right into a story and a model.”
Right here, Kay Ikazoboh discusses Virgin Music Nigeria’s positioning, the evolution of Africa’s music enterprise, and her predictions for a market that she insists “isn’t ’rising’ – it has arrived and is just undervalued…”
YOU WERE NAMED HEAD OF VIRGIN MUSIC NIGERIA IN SEPTEMBER 2023. WHAT WAS YOUR VISION FOR THE VIRGIN MUSIC BRAND IN THE MARKET GOING INTO THE ROLE?
My imaginative and prescient was and is threefold: respect the tradition, scale the infrastructure, and spend money on the individuals.
The Virgin model has a legacy of championing the impartial spirit. However Nigeria doesn’t want a international entity to ‘uncover’ its music; we have now been setting world developments for many years.
“My imaginative and prescient was to place Virgin Music not as a gatekeeper, however as a bridge.”
My imaginative and prescient was to place Virgin Music not as a gatekeeper, however as a bridge. We’re right here to supply African creators with what they really want: clear partnerships, strong infrastructure to construct careers past viral moments, and entry to world platforms with out the price of cultural dilution. I got here in with a transparent mandate to place creators first and construct long-term fairness for African expertise.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR STRATEGY FOR EXPANDING THE COMPANY’S OPERATIONS IN THE MARKET OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS?
Our technique has been deliberate and targeted on genuine integration. First, we empowered our native workforce, making certain that choices are made by individuals who stay and breathe the tradition. We’re not simply current in Nigeria; we’re Nigerian/ African.
Our enlargement has been partner-led. We recognized essentially the most revolutionary entrepreneurs and label homeowners within the ecosystem, those already constructing the long run and provided them the instruments to amplify their imaginative and prescient on a world scale. This led to key partnerships with business leaders like Dvpper. We’ve additionally prolonged our attain, just lately partnering with RainLabs in Ghana to help expertise throughout West Africa.
In the end, our technique is about being embedded. When you’re not within the studios, the golf equipment, and the cultural conversations, you’re simply observing. We’re energetic members.
HOW IS VIRGIN MUSIC POSITIONED IN NIGERIA’S MUSIC BUSINESS TODAY?
We’re the house for the fashionable African music entrepreneur. We cater to independent-minded artists and labels who demand each native credibility and a classy world technique. We’re not aiming to be the largest; we’re relentlessly targeted on being essentially the most trusted.
“Our place is obvious: creative-first, data-smart, and globally fluent.”
Our place is obvious: creative-first, data-smart, and globally fluent. We’re the associate that gives refined analytical instruments but additionally exhibits as much as the present. We satisfaction ourselves on a people-first strategy. In a market crowded with choices, our aim is for our companions to need to work with us, not simply must.
What inventive or enterprise developments are you seeing within the native market and throughout the broader African continent that we should always find out about?
Creatively, there’s a captivating return to introspection and vulnerability in songwriting, paired with what I name ‘Afrofusion 3.0’—a sonic motion mixing indigenous languages and devices with futuristic, world sounds.
On the enterprise aspect, the shift in mindset is profound. Artists are actually demanding to see cap tables, not simply hear applause. We’re seeing a surge in creator-owned IP, hybrid label-service fashions, and a extra refined strategy to catalog administration, which actually picked up in late 2024. Artist managers are evolving into enterprise capitalists.
“Throughout the continent, essentially the most thrilling development is the collapse of inventive borders.”
Throughout the continent, essentially the most thrilling development is the collapse of inventive borders. Amapiano from South Africa is the heartbeat of golf equipment in Accra, and Lagos street-pop is influencing drill scenes in Nairobi. Africa is in a state of fixed, sensible cross-pollination.
What are the largest challenges going through impartial artists and music entrepreneurs available in the market right this moment, and the way is Virgin Music positioned to assist them resolve these challenges?
The first problem is the hole between distribution and improvement. Merely importing a monitor to DSPs is just not a method for sustainability. The second, and associated, problem is an absence of monetary literacy and enterprise acumen, which prevents artists from changing streams into long-term wealth.
“For entrepreneurs, we act as an accelerator, providing the infrastructure, knowledge, and world community to assist them construct strong, scalable companies.”
That is exactly the place Virgin Music intervenes. We’re not a passive distributor; we’re an energetic improvement associate. We offer the strategic framework from metadata optimization to inventive advertising and marketing and world marketing campaign administration that turns a music right into a story and a model.
For entrepreneurs, we act as an accelerator, providing the infrastructure, knowledge, and world community to assist them construct strong, scalable companies. We’re the facility adapter between uncooked expertise and actual enterprise.
What recommendation would you give entrepreneurs beginning out within the music enterprise right this moment?
First, know your ‘why’ earlier than you begin chasing the ‘who.’ Connections would possibly open a door, however it’s your character, imaginative and prescient, and integrity that can hold you within the room.
Second, construct for longevity, not only for hype. The tradition has a approach of humbling those that are solely in it for fleeting moments of fame. Serve the artwork, respect the enterprise, and be affected person sufficient to construct one thing that lasts. The monetary and emotional returns on legacy are infinite.
What does success seem like to you?
Success is tangible and systemic. It’s when our label companions have the monetary freedom to reinvest in native infrastructure, constructing studios and hiring groups right here in Nigeria/Ghanq and throughout Africa. It’s once I see extra ladies appointed to positions of energy, main main music markets with their imaginative and prescient absolutely supported. Success is when my workforce achieves their targets, our artists construct actual wealth, and the worldwide business lastly stops underestimating the strategic prowess of African professionals.
For me, success is about constructing a legacy of empowerment and making a sustainable ecosystem for the subsequent technology.
What are your inventive and industrial predictions for Nigeria’s music enterprise over the subsequent 5 years?
Creatively, I predict a diversification past the ‘Afrobeats’ monolith. We’ll see the rise of hyper-regional genres that mix native sounds with world influences; assume Yoruba drill, Hausa reggaetón, and even gospel entice. The period of genre-fluidity is upon us.
“Commercially, the subsequent 5 years might be about infrastructure and possession.”
Commercially, the subsequent 5 years might be about infrastructure and possession. We’ll see the rise of artist-owned platforms, a critical push for the auditing and assortment of efficiency royalties, and a major wave of funding in expertise and catalog acquisition.
I firmly consider we may even witness the emergence of main streaming platforms and cost options constructed by Africans, for Africans.
IFPI reported that recorded music revenues in Sub-Saharan Africa grew 22.6% YoY in 2024 and surpassed USD $100 million for the primary time. What are your predictions for the broader Sub-Saharan Africa market over the subsequent 12 months?
That milestone is lengthy overdue, and it’s just the start. Within the subsequent 12 months, I predict an acceleration of catalog licensing and acquisition offers. We’ll see non-traditional gamers like telcos and fintech corporations deepen their investments in music as a instrument for person engagement. Moreover, count on a strategic enlargement of African expertise into new markets like Latin America and the Center East, shifting past the normal concentrate on the West.
Nonetheless, essentially the most important progress will come from inside by enhancing the monetisation of native consumption via extra environment friendly efficiency rights organisations, micro-subscription fashions, and complex, data-driven advertising and marketing. The continent isn’t ‘rising’; it has arrived and is just undervalued.
If there was one factor you might change concerning the music enterprise, what wouldn’t it be and why?
I might dismantle the tradition of ego and change it with a basis of empathy and loyalty. An excessive amount of of our business is constructed on gatekeeping and the glorification of wrestle. I might redesign the enterprise to prioritize wellness, transparency, and real communication.
“Think about an business the place artists aren’t anticipated to burn out by 30, and executives don’t hoard energy.’
Think about an business the place artists aren’t anticipated to burn out by 30, and executives don’t hoard energy. An business the place artists and their day one groups, the managers and labels who believed in them from the beginning can develop and succeed collectively, (Mavin involves thoughts) with out the story ending in a bitter dispute.
When the enterprise really serves the creators, and the creators perceive that the ecosystem is greater than simply them, everybody wins.
SoundExchange was independently shaped in 2003 to construct a fairer, easier, and extra environment friendly music business via expertise, knowledge, and advocacy. The one group designated by the U.S. authorities to manage the Part 114 sound recording license, SoundExchange collects and distributes digital efficiency royalties on behalf of 700,000 music creators and rising.
Music Enterprise Worldwide
