Major record labels are flocking to Jamaica to sign dancehall artists as streaming reshapes the economics of the music industry. Koffee, Skillibeng, Protoje, Lila Ike, Valiant, Masicka, Teejay, Shenseea, and Jada Kingdom are some of the signees over the last five years from Jamaica who scored lucrative record deals with labels based on their local streaming performance.
Protoje told WMV that he has honored his obligations for his RCA deal and has left with his masters intact, while Jada Kingdom was let go by Republic Records, and the singer said she felt “out of place.”
Still, labels are hungry for more, according to Ali Niaz, the person who got Skillibeng signed to RCA Records and put together a live music plan that saw the “Whap Whap” artist touring the UK and the US, opening for Drake, performing with Nicki Minaj and making stops at the Afropunk Festival based on his Apple Music and YouTube streaming hits.
“I came to Jamaica on holidays and saw that Skilli was the hottest thing out, reached out to his team on the ground, connected with them and discuss what their vision and goals was and went on about trying to execute those goals. I started to shop him around to labels because at the time he had the Nicki Minaj Crocodile Teeth Remix out, and for me as someone who knows the International music space I was in shock that Skilli hasn’t gone clear already. That goes down to the music business, the proper work and where the rights are sitting. So I was brought in to execute a record deal and execute a live strategy,” Ali said.
Goldman Sachs predicts that the total revenue of the music streaming market will reach $38 billion this year and by 2030, according to their “Music In The Air” report, more than $150 billion will be generated from streaming in the US alone.
With more people streaming music legally on their smartphones than ever before in Jamaica, the behavioral shift has had a direct impact in how Jamaican music is received overseas.
This is supported by Goldman Sachs Researcher Lisa Yang, who said, “One of the growing trends we have seen in the last couple of years has been the rise in local artists. We have observed an increasingly diverse set of artists and genres becoming successful on a global level and that’s because the digitization of music has allowed local music to extend its reach globally.”
Jamaican artists are also excelling with features and collaborations that are popular in regions outside of the diaspora where streaming platforms have the advantage of huge populations. Shenseea for example has over 500 million Spotify streams, and a Gold certification in the US for her Kanye West collaboration “Pure Souls” and in Canada she scored Gold for “Blessed” featuring America rapper Tyga.
Likewise, Skillibeng’s 2020 song “Crocodile Teeth” got a remix by Nicki Minaj and Byron Messia made “Talibans 2” with Burna Boy and the two songs hit the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 99 and 98 respectively. Both artists earned Silver Certifications in the UK last year for their hits so sales and streaming equivalent units of 250,000.
One of the main challenges in signing Jamaican artists lies in the fragmented business model prevalent among Jamaicas, where the rights to an artist’s music are often owned by multiple entities. Ali explains the complexity, stating, “Many dancehall artists have their rights scattered across different entities. In the music industry, it’s not just about the music; it’s the business of rights and where those rights are situated.”
“Its a huge problem” the KLKMUSIC CEO said, when streaming services typically distribute about two-thirds of their generated revenue to music rights holders such as Universal, Sony, and Warner Music. The current revenue model, which has shifted away from traditional record sales, has transformed music into an asset class. This evolution, driven by the popularity of artists, has resulted in more substantial financial opportunities than ever before.
Therefore, once all the ducks are in a row, Ali explained the process is as easy as: “We secured a licensing deal through EastSyde Records, obtained a label deal for EastSyde Records from Sony Records, and subsequently facilitated a license deal for Skillibeng with RCA through EastSyde Records.”
Ali said what he managed to accomplish with Skillibeng has also made other labels pay attention to what’s possible in Jamaica. “Prior to that I can’t recall the last time a major artists in the last decade has crossed over into the international market. and thats because the paper work is not in place, its not that the music is not hitting, its just the headache to deal with an artist who you want to sign but there are so many problems linked to everything surrounding that artist.”
Deezer, valued at over a billion dollars, introduced a new payment model last October, aiming for a global expansion from January 1 and Spotify announced their payment system change starting this year. Labels have convinced these platforms that songs that get less 1,000-stream threshold are categorized as “noise” will not receive any royalty payments, but reggae and dancehall tracks with millions of streams will be part of a qualifying pool for a higher royalty share.
“Music business growth is huge, big artists are selling their catalog, there is a guaranteed 20% growth on streaming income, guaranteed every year for the next five years, so if you make a song today and it makes $1, there is a guarantee that in the next five years it will be worth $2. The Church Of England recently invested a huge amount of money in buying catalog music, so investing in music to make sure the paper work is right is as valuable as having Gold or oil in this day and age,” Ali said.
As for how much labels are willing to pay for dancehall artists? Ali said it’s based on who is hot and who is not.
“The companies are interesting in what’s hot, the second you are not hot, the next person is coming in so as soon as you are hot I wold advise everybody to capitalize. If you are an artist that’s hot, and doing great stuff, labels are more than happy to throw half a million USD for an album with the option for another, if you are hot property, sometimes that can get you to a million.” Ali said.
As for who is next, Ali says he is hopeful for Pablo YG, Najeeriii, Kraff and RajahWild.
Watch full interview with Ali Niaz on World Music Views YouTube Channel:
