PopRev - Artists To Make Music On Their Terms With Their Fans
PopRev by uduX and PiggyVest is here to solve the problems of financing and ownership for African artists.
Last week it was announced that the Nigerian streaming service uduX had partnered with PiggyVest to develop a new product PopRev.
This should be of interest to music fans in the country. PopRev will allow music listeners “invest in their favourite musician’s project and make profits based on the project’s digital streaming performance. The solution will see fans become more instrumental to the financial success of their favourite artists.”
Additionally, “Fans can track their investment through the uduX platform which is available as both web and mobile apps. The apps will give them real-time insights into the streaming performance of the music they invested in. Fans can also invite other people to listen to the artist’s music on uduX. Whatever revenue is made from the music is shared with the concerned investors.”
This is a welcome initiative from uduX and PiggyVest. When I saw the news pop up on my timeline last week I said “This is great news. This allows music fans to back their favourite artists financially. It’s a viable alternative to the sometimes hellish process of working with a major label.”
The music game is changing every minute. No longer is music success attached to a record deal from a major record label. Don’t get me wrong. I am still a supporter of the record label format as long as it favours the talent but in today’s music climate not all artists can be Taylor Swift, Post Malone and Drake.
These are artists that are worth their weight in gold, platinum, diamond plaques and billions of streams. These are acts that put the lights on in major record labels and that is why they get huge budgets from these companies.
What about the little or mid level guy? Unfortunately, most labels are interested in signing acts with a strong target audience ready to go. Many of them are not committed to the long game of developing and bankrolling acts on the come up.
The indie game is a viable option but it is not pretty as it sounds. The key issue is funds. Where will the money to bankroll an EP or an album come from? This is where a product like PopRev comes in handy.
According to uduX’s CEO, Chidi Okeke, “PopRev gives artists access to funding while letting them keep their masters. We’re creating a new artist revenue model driven by fans’ social engagement and the new normal of ‘sharing’.”
Ownership is key and that is what PopRev is also offering.
For the fans, wouldn’t it be cool to invest in Wizkid or Davido’s next albums? “An initiative like PopRev will afford a lot of creators who, for example, struggled through the lockdown, the privilege to create without concerns of funding” says the DMW boss on PopRev. Their success becomes your success.
“This is a music business solution that builds equity for African artists and it will be very attractive to our investors. We believe this product will help shape a new business model of revenue generation and open up the market for more data-driven investment” states Somto Ifezue, CEO of PiggyVest.
PopRev has come at the right time for African artists, especially Nigerian acts, now that the global music market is on a hunt to sign the next big thing from the continent. With PopRev, our artists can succeed on their own terms while the fans play a crucial role in their success stories.
*Sponsored content.