Famoyin Ayomide is a final year student of Medical Laboratory Science of College of Medicine, University of Lagos and the CEO of MIxNaija Entertainment Record Company that is currently managing Nigeria’s fast-rising star, Tclassic. In this interview by SEGUN ADEBAYO, the young and dynamic entertainment expert shares his dreams, passion to create platforms for rising star among other future plans. Or sim et undam rae repta sitatium nonsect
What informed your decision to float a record label?
It all started in 2014 when MixNaija was just a promotion company and a blog. But before then, I had fancied the idea of managing artistes and giving them the platform to showcase their talents to the world. For me, what I do is more like a passion because I could have ventured into something else.
There was a time when I was working closely with some of Nigeria’s big artistes and I discovered that I could replicate the same effort I put in their jobs in mine as well, so I started working on how to turn my passion into a money spinning-business.
As a final year student of College of Medicine, University of Lagos, how do you cope with being an entrepreneur?
Entertainment is just something that I am passionate about and it has never affected my commitment in school. Being a final year student makes it even more tasking but as I said, I have a very formidable PR team that works with me. You will be surprised if I tell you some of the jobs we have handled for some of the big artistes in Nigeria. We thank God for the grace to have come this far.
So you were sure having a record label would work?
This is something I have always dreamt of and I am sure this is what I am ready for. Seeing other artistes prosper has always been my joy. As I said, I have worked with major record labels and I know how they all started and how far they have gone. I have always said it to myself that if I could make it work for others, it can work for me too. Today, I am proud that my dream is fast becoming a reality and the future even looks better because I am not slowing down and I am working hard to make every moment count.
You worked with some of Nigeria’s superstars before you moved on to be independent, what was it like and could tell us some of them?
I actually started with a music promotion company and I worked with several artistes such as LAX when he was still under Wizkid, I worked with CDQ, Chinko and I even worked with Kiss Daniel. From there I started thinking about how to come up with a record label.
Floating a record label is one thing, funding it is another thing entirely; how did you raise the funds to float it at that time?
I have always had the habit of saving for the rainy day. I was doing a lot of promotional jobs for quite a number artistes that we push their jobs to the people. It was even more easier because I had built contacts over the years working with different brands, so when I came up with my company, it was quite easy for me to work up to some of them to support my dream. I started with my savings. I used to work with an insurance company and I was able to save some substantial amount every month. I was actually saving the money to travel out of the country to start my Masters programme but it got to a point when I felt travelling out of the country could wait. It has been good since I started.
How did you come about the name MixNaija?
A friend of mine came up with the name. Those days when I was starting out, I wanted to start my blog, I wanted it sound musical. I didn’t want the regular names that people have used over the years. There was this friend of mine, who was a graphic designer, who convinced me to use MixNaija because I was thinking of using NaijaMix but he was able to persuade me to drop the name.
Tclassic is your first artiste, how has it been since he came on board?
I started in April and he dropped his first song in May and we shot the video around that time. The working relationship has been cool and the progress has been very encouraging. It was not hard pushing him because I had been working on a couple of projects for people. I think the industry is starting to appreciate and embrace my work. This year will be another big one for us because we are already working on new materials. The music industry is big and the competition is rife. Nobody is ready to give anything to you for free, but I have my way of doing things. I don’t look at what others are doing, I concentrate on my work with my team. My PR company is always there to make things easy for the label.
What do you think about the career of Tclassic at the moment as we heard that you are not getting along very well?
I always tell him that this music industry is not about talent anymore, it is about the person involved in the craft. If you are claiming you have talent and you are not doing enough for yourself, you are putting yourself out there for people to see you, you will soon fade away. There is nothing like there is no person that can do it like me. Trust me, you are missing the link. I see him as somebody who loses his focus too easily and does not listen to instructions. I have done a lot for this guy in the last one year. Apart from the money I have spent, I have sacrificed my time and resources on him, but he does not seem to be doing enough to make our work count.
Are you saying you are getting tired of working with him?
I am not saying I am getting tired but I am putting him on a scale right now and if he does not do the things I want from him, I may have to terminate his contract and part ways with him. You can’t claim to be an artiste and you will not give us what is required of you. How can an artiste sleep all day without recording a song in today’s industry where people are grinding their asses out in the studio to put in work? You have to be innovative as an artiste. You can’t just slow down as an artiste. If I don’t see any changes, I will have to take a decision that will not go down well with him because I can’t continue to house an artiste that sees himself as the best thing to have happened to the industry even when he has not achieved anything.
Don’t you think severing your relationship would mean that you have wasted your resources for nothing?
I don’t look at it from that perspective. As an entrepreneur, you don’t look at what has gone, you look at what is coming and what you have. The money I have spent does not really matter like the money I will keep spending with nothing to show for it. It is better not to keep spending on the wrong things. How do you want to progress if you sleep indoors every day without doing anything tangible with your career? Nobody is going to wait for you, no matter how rich your label owner is.
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