Tech, data behind Afrobeats’ success – Samuel Korie

Korie is currently with Nigeria-based music company The Plug Entertainment, which offers management, distribution publishing and licensing services. He was recently interviewed for Byta’s Digital Dialogue series, where he underscores the place of data in consolidating the gains made by the West Africa-led sound in the digital era.

In the interview, Korie notes that tech has constantly functioned as a companion for Afrobeats, stressing its place in the crossover success of songs like 2Baba Idibia’s ‘African Queen’, Burna Boy’s ‘Ye’, Davido’s ‘Fall’ and CKay’s ‘Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah)’. He also cites Tems, whose work has received international acclaim while collaborating with everyone from Drake to Future and Rihanna. 

“One of the fruits of technology within the context of Afrobeats is data,” Korie said. “The full cocktail of marketing is now data-backed. This has been a blessing to independent artists, their teams and niche creators. Technology has been instrumental to marketing efforts for live events and tours within the Afrobeats space.”

He adds: “From larger decisions around DSP [digital service provider] support, ad placements on music marketing campaigns and playlisting to even smaller branding decisions like what emojis an artist uses on social media, or typefacing on media assets, technology is helping the Afrobeats community reach levels previously unfathomable.”

Korie also alludes to tech’s ability to “democratise opportunities” while eliminating middlemen and allowing creatives to land global collaborations without bottlenecks and label bureaucracy. But he also raises the alarm over an addiction to numbers in the genre via streaming farms and purchasing social media activity. “In an industry where numbers shape the narrative, gaming the system is now somewhat commonplace,” he says. 

Overall, Korie observes that tech will continue to have cornerstone status in the creative industry. “From a purely marketing and communications standpoint, technology remains Afrobeats’ most powerful tool for exporting its most resounding success stories globally. For a sound with its roots in the world’s poverty capital, we are witnessing history being written in very rich colours,” he said.

Read the full interview here.