TECHPOINT.

NG
CLING THE IMPA CT OF TECHNOLOGY ON THE AFRICAN NARRATIVE

HOME

STARTUP NATION

FEATURES
o Founders Table
o Engine Room
o Tours
o W omenpreneurs
o Editors Pick
o How Tos
o Techtainment
o Creatives

NEW S

GADGETS

EVENTS

PITCH YOUR STARTUP

CONTACT TECHPOINT
Meet the guys working to overthrow free digital music
downloads in Nigeria
MARCH 21, 2016 BY MUYIWA MATULUKO 1 COMMENT

In an industry fueled by all too influential free music blogs, three young
entrepreneurs are taking the bull by the horn to achieve the unimaginable.

MyMusic.com.ng is an online retail platform that lets Nigerians pay to download

high quality music using a convenient payment channel theyre all familiar and
very comfortable with mobile airtime. Techpoint sat down for a chat with the 3
co-founders of MyMusic to get some insight into how they hope to end the reign
of free digital music downloads in Nigeria.

Techpoint: Could you give us a brief intro of yourselves and the roles you play
in MyMusic?
Damola: My name is Damola Taiwo. I am the Chief Operational Officer and Co-
founder of MyMusic. Most of what I do revolves around speaking to, and
sourcing, partners. I also do some tech stuff, design and branding sometimes.
 Damola Taiwo

Tola: My name is Tola Ogunsola. I am the CEO and Co-founder of MyMusic.

Most of what I do is liaising with partners and seeing to the day-to-day
operations of the company and business development I also work with Damola
on content acquisitions from record labels and independent artistes.
 Tola Ogunsola

Dolapo: My name is Dolapo Taiwo. I am Co-founder and also double as CTO for
MyMusic. Most of my work revolves around third-party tech integrations. I
also oversee a lot of development work.
 Dolapo Taiwo

Briefly, what is the story behind MyMusic?

Damola: We met at Babcock University where we were all studying Computer
Science. While in school, we were very involved in web development and
computer clubs. Tola especially was the kind of programmer everybody wanted to
know when they had assignments. We also had similar interests in music. I play
the bass guitar, Dolapo plays the keyboard.
Two years after leaving school in 2004, we came together to nurse an idea a
music store for selling Nigerian CDs online to people abroad. But it didnt fly so
we all moved on. Dolapo and I went on to found Unotech Media, which we
initially ran from our uncles garage in Ibadan. Years after, we reunited again
to share experiences of the things we had done with technology in our personal
lives. We saw how the Nigerian music industry was so fragmented and we
thought we could do something about it. We decided we would build a digital
music downloads platform. Thats how it all started.

But you were entering a saturated space at a time when most local players
had tried and failed. What made you so confident that this was the way to go?
Damola: When Steve Jobs started iTunes, Napsters was the P2P music sharing
platform everybody was using to download free music. No one ever believed that
iTunes could become such a commercial success. What that taught us is that, as
long as it is convenient, people dont mind paying for digital music downloads
Granted, the tech industry in Nigeria is still very young; quite a sizeable number
of consumers are yet to embrace tech. Someone in the know told me that there
are no more than 200,000 Nigerians who use their debit cards online. But these
are the same people who, even though they download songs for free from music
blogs, will pay N50 a month for CRBTs (caller tunes). So we researched on how
we can match that experience. If we could find a way to make people pay just by
the click of a button, then we had a solution. The only reason why we started
MyMusic was because we thought we had the solution.

But it took us 3 years to come up with that solution.

 Downloads on MyMusic cost only N30 per track

Now you can press a button and the song is sent directly to your phone, N30 is
deducted from your airtime and you receive an SMS receipt with a link to re-
download the song if it fails.

That sounds like a lot of work. I imagine its been very challenging
Dolapo: It sure is a lot of work. To achieve what we are doing, there are an awful
lot of third-parties involved. Because of the way the music industry is structured,
getting the attention of record labels is quite difficult. Manoeuvring around 12
record labels and numerous individual artists, just to get them on one platform is
a bit of a challenge. But weve been able to surmount most of it.
Tola: Its almost like we are a unification of 3 different industries; music, tech
and communications. You could also add payments into that mix. So for a typical
everyday user that lands on MyMusic, from point zero to download, it is just 2
clicks. But for us it takes us connecting to about 5 entities, which you are not
aware of. Because we have to seal so many partnerships, there is a lot of friction
and so many potential points of failure.
What we have going for us is that even though we all have a technology
background, weve made a conscious effort to shift the focus from the technology
to what users are used to and want.

Have you raised any investments so far?

Tola: No we havent. When we started, we had an interesting number of people
reach out to us. At that time the issue was that some of the suggestions from the
prospective investors sounded like doing exactly the same thing competitors have
done and failed at. Eventually, we found an investor but they tried to change too
much. So we decided at that point to take a break from seeking for investors.
Currently, we are bootstrapping the company to a point where we build enough
traction to start talking to investors again.
Damola: Just to clarify. Its not like there is some stack of cash somewhere we
can constantly pump into the business. We all have other businesses that we are
running which serve as the performance engine for fueling MyMusic. I can tell
you it has been extremely difficult; we are literally giving it all we have. Can you
imagine what its like pumping all money you make into a venture that is not
making any profit?

Have any of you ever got to point when you felt like throwing in the towel?
Damola: To be honest, I never thought it was going to be this difficult or take
this long. However, we have gotten to a stage where we cannot go back. I think
what has allowed us to stay resilient up to this point is that fact that we all have
our personal things going on for us. So we are not looking at this thing as a short
term venture or a major revenue stream. I mean, if you think about it, it is almost
impossible to bootstrap what we are doing because it is a very expensive project. I
would advise entrepreneurs out there to at least have some source of personal
revenue that will help you to have a higher staying power.
Tola: For me, it has never really gotten to that point of giving up outright.
Interestingly, whenever it seems like we are getting close to our breaking point,
something always happens like finally sealing an important partnership weve
been chasing for months at the nick of time that is just about enough to keep us
going.

Dolapo: We are convinced about what we are doing so we cannot give up even
though it is a painful process. I just find something to do; sleep, take a vacation,
whatever I can to keep my sanity.

In your position as an intersection of both industries, what do you think the

Nigerian tech industry can learn from the more successful music industry?
Damola: The other day, we had a discussion with one of the biggest artiste
managers in Kenya and she made some key observations. Nigerian music videos
have been able to match up to international standard. So if Jay Z uses a Ferrari in
his video, you can be sure Davido will use a Porsche. Or Wizkid will use a
Lamborghini. Theyre also wearing the same kind of designer apparel and
shooting at similarly fantastic locations. People watching these music videos like
to be inspired. If you cannot inspire them, they see you as a local artist. Phyno is
rapping in Igbo but people are listening to his music all over the world because
people feel its international. The content is local but the outlook is international.
A lot of it is just what is fashionable to do. But as long as it is excellently done,
people will be attracted to it. A passion for excellence is very important. Thats
what I see the Nigerian music industry has tapped into and thats why it is so big.
Tola: Jimmy Iovine, one of the biggest music execs in America and Co-founder
of Beats with Dr Dre, said one of the things that always struck him when he had a
meeting with Steve Jobs was that tech people were always over confident. On the
other hand, the music industry people dont have any confidence.

Its the same here in Nigeria. People in the music industry are always focused on
the money. They recognize that what theyre doing is a business. Tech people on
the other hand are way too confident and focused on tech. Its like they get kicks
out of using the latest tools to build stuff that nobodys going to use it, because it
solves a problem that doesnt exist. Tech people in Nigeria need to remember that
fundamentally they are in a business.

Finally, based on your experiences, what pieces of advice do you have for
aspiring entrepreneurs?
Damola: I see a lot of young people now who, once they finish university, believe
the next thing is to sign up at some hub. Dont venture into startups just because
everyone is doing it. It took me almost 9 years to start this startup. The only
reason why you should be running a startup is because you have the conviction
that you can solve a problem. Not because startups are the next thing to do to
make money for yourself. You can work for somebody, maybe another startup, or
you can volunteer to work for a big company for free. Maybe after 6 months they
can employ you. You could become bigger than someone who is into startups and
doesnt really know why he is doing it.
And once you decide the time is right to start a venture, focus more on the
product. When you have a compelling product that solves a real problem, the
right forces will align; money will come, investors might come, solutions will
come, partners will come. Thats if you focus on your product and youre solving
a real problem.

Tola: I think that theres a lot of glamour around startups and it is obviously
because of success stories around the world. But people always forget that are
startup is essentially a business. If you dont have a compelling product or
youre not differentiating just dont bother starting because, youre going to face a
lot of challenges, especially in the SSA market. Naivety is good. Youre fresh out
of school, pumped up and you think you can take on the world. But your reality
should always be balanced. You cant come out with a software that will change
the banking industry in Nigeria without first understanding the banking industry.
Dolapo: The reason why Olamide is so successful is because he is local street
ti take over. Go local but use the resources around you to do whatever youre
doing to the highest level of professionalism. If what you are doing is not part of
Nigerian realities, its a joke. But if it can appeal to the average man on the streets
, then you know that youre doing something right. For a second, take off your
tech cap and just think like a normal human being. When you do that, you start to
see that things have a different view entirely. You are no more just building stuff
that is high tech. You are building stuff that people need. Because at the end of
the day, nobody cares whether your code is written in PHP or C#. What people
care about is what problems it solves and how can it can impact the vast majority
of people out there.

Muyiwa Matuluko
Chief Chronicler at Techpoint.ng. Send all correspondence to info@techpoint.ng
439SHARES

More Posts Like This

Facebook partners MyMusic to extend Music Stories to Africa
April 4, 2016
In "News"

8 wise reflections on founding a successful startup in Nigeria

January 30, 2017
In "Startup Nation"
Will the true Nigerian Tech Startups please stand up?
May 3, 2016
In "Startup Nation"

Comments
Like this post? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

Subscribe

EDITORS PICK
There is no tech ecosystem in Nigeria Emeka Okoye, industry veteran
MARCH 16, 2017

For the initiated, Emeka Okoye almost needs no introduction. A Read More...

9 jobs you can do while waiting for your NYSC posting

MARCH 7, 2017

The one thing every serious undergraduate looks forward to is the end Read
More...

The definitive list of tech hubs in Nigeria

MARCH 6, 2017

For decades, the Silicon Valley model has progressively Read More...
6 exceptional Nigerians who work at Apple
MARCH 1, 2017

When Steve Jobs launched the "Here's to the Crazy Ones" campaign for Read
More...

VIDEOPOINT

1/7
Next
By PoseLab
Show more videos
Copyright 2017 Techpoint All Rights Reserved
MORE IN BABCOCK UNIVERSITY, CALLER RING BACK TUNES, CRBT, ITUNES, JIMMY IOVINE, MUSIC, MYMUSIC, NAPSTERS, NIGERIAN
MUSIC INDUSTRY, NIGERIAN TECIE, P2P, STEVE JOBS

Malawian music streaming startup, Mvelani raises $57,000, plans Nigeria expansion

Close