The success of rapper Stormzy demonstrates how musicians are increasingly building their own brands without the support of major labels, allowing them to strike better deals with the industry when necessary, says The Economist.
Until four years ago, Tobe Onwuka was a junior at a car dealership, trusted to reel in the customers but not to clinch the deals. Now he’s chomping on a crispy duck salad at the Groucho, his private members’ club, and chatting about Stormzy, the rapper from south London responsible for this change in fortune. (He still won’t order the scallops, for fear of being seen as posh.) Sitting in a tracksuit top, Mr Onwuka explains the success of Stormzy, the childhood friend whom he now manages. “We’ve cut out a bunch of the middlemen,” he says.
The global music industry has been transformed by the internet...Keep reading on The Economist
Until four years ago, Tobe Onwuka was a junior at a car dealership, trusted to reel in the customers but not to clinch the deals. Now he’s chomping on a crispy duck salad at the Groucho, his private members’ club, and chatting about Stormzy, the rapper from south London responsible for this change in fortune. (He still won’t order the scallops, for fear of being seen as posh.) Sitting in a tracksuit top, Mr Onwuka explains the success of Stormzy, the childhood friend whom he now manages. “We’ve cut out a bunch of the middlemen,” he says.
The global music industry has been transformed by the internet...Keep reading on The Economist