Davido and Tiwa Savage shared what their experiences has been like being signed to Major Record labels.
Davido got signed to Sony Music in 2015 and in the following year launched his own Record label, Davido Music Worldwide while Tiwa Savage left Mavin Records to join Universal Music for a seven-year publishing and distribution deal in 2019.
The two artists alongside Mr Eazi were interviewed by Billboard Magazine and Davido and Tiwa Savage shared their experience being signed to Major Labels.
Davido said he even though he was successful prior to his move to join Sony Music and that even though it wasn’t something he needed, he decided to take the risk.
However the move didn’t come without its own set of challenges. He said a year after signing, the vision he had in mind wasn’t coming forth because of the fact that the label was trying to make him sound different.
He said that he had to fight for his sound and moved back to Nigeria and released “If” which blew beyond expectation. Adding that the Black Panther Movie helped people start understanding a bit of African culture.
I’m just happy that everything paid off in the end. All the labels are out here now in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa looking for talent.
Tiwa Savage said she still acts like an Independent artist despite being signed to a Major Label. According to her, Major Labels still don’t understand how to sell Afrobeats and they haven’t put their machinery behind the genre yet.
She also said she can’t wait for the day when African artists are given the same platforms as International artists like Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, and the rest.
How often do you see an American artist get signed and he or she already has 5 million followers on their own? Even 1 million? And you don’t want to give them the same push as Bieber? If [African artists] even had 25% of that push, Davido and Eazi would be billionaires.