MBW’s World Leaders is a regular series in which we turn the spotlight toward some of the most influential industry figures overseeing key international markets. For the second installment of 2024, we speak to Nigeria-based music executive Osagie Osarenz, Director of African Operations at artist and label services company ONErpm. World Leaders is supported by PPL.
It all started when Osagie Osarenz quit her job.
In 2008, Osarenz, now the Director of African Operations at artist and label services company ONErpm, was working in TV under the guidance of media mogul Mo Abudu as an Associate Producer for the hit Nigerian TV show Moments with Mo.
Osarenz left her burgeoning career in television, however, to focus on managing her first artist, a female rapper, called Kel. Her decision to go into management full-time paid off.
She went on to discover and work with one of Africa’s biggest recent global success stories, Wizkid, as his first manager.
Over the past decade, Osarenz has also worked with multi-award-winning Nigerian stars such as Skales, Reekado Banks, Timaya, YCee, Reminisce, and more.
“I have worked in the music business for 15 years and am just as excited about the opportunities as when I first started,” Osarenz tells us.
“I have worked in the music business for 15 years and am just as excited about the opportunities as when I first started.”
Osagie Osarenz
Osarenz joined ONErpm in 2020 as the Country Manager for Nigeria, when the company opened an office in Lagos, Nigeria, under the direction of Martin Price, Head of Global Expansion for ONErpm.
Now, as Director, A&R/Operations (Africa), Osarenz leads ONErpm offices in Accra, Ghana; Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Nairobi, Kenya; Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, and Johannesburg, South Africa.
(ONErpm is headquartered in Nashville, and was founded 13 years ago by CEO Emmanuel Zunz, and focused on Brazil as its initial target market.)
Since joining ONErpm and being promoted to Director, A&R/Operations (Africa), Osarenz has led release and marketing campaigns for numerous artists, including Bella Shmurda, 1da Banton, Runtown, Kelvyn Boy, Peruzzi, Boutross, Malcolm Nuna, PsychoYP and more.
Osarenz tells us that ONErpm now has over 5,000 accounts being created on the ONErpm platform monthly over 3,000 music releases monthly across Africa.
Two successful recent ONErpm releases to have come out of Nigeria specifically are the tracks Egwu by Chike and Bust Down by Zlatan and Asake.
The latter track, Bust Down, has entered the Billboard Afrobeats US chart at No.13 as of today.
ONErpm reports that Chike’s track Egwu, which was released on December 15 has achieved over 70 million streams to date. The company also says that the track is currently getting about 750,000 streams per day, and currently has over 1 million TikTok creations and 581,000 Snapchat creations.
Chike, meanwhile, has gained over 812,000 monthly listeners and 39,900 followers on Spotify since the song came out – not to mention 10.2 million YouTube Channel Views, over 247,000 Instagram Followers, 126,400 Facebook followers, and 13,000 YouTube Subscribers.
Bust Down by Zlatan and Asake, which, was released at the start of February, has achieved 7.3 million streams since it was released, as well as racking up 1.1 million views on YouTube and over 9,600 TikTok creates.
ONErpm reports that Zlatan’s monthly listeners have also grown, by 93,000 over the past two weeks, and that his Spotify followers have grown by 6,900, in addition to seeing growth on YouTube (+4,000 Subscribers) and Instagram (+11,900 Followers).
Commenting on the success of the tracks, Osarenz says that “Zlatan [is] always immersing himself into the marketing” and is “an artist who has played the long game,” who has “evolved yet retained his authenticity”.
Chike, on the other hand, “constantly serves a masterclass on making music we all love,” adds Osarenz. “He understands that classic songs need a good story, catchy lyrics, relatability, and a fantastic production.”
Offering her prediction for the performance of Chike’s track EGWU in the coming weeks, Osarenz says that, having already racked up 70 million streams to date, “we have a potential global hit on our hands”.
Looking to the future, and what the success of EGWU and Bust Down mean for ONErpm’s positioning in the wider region, Osarenz explains that “it further shows our commitment to empowering artists in Africa, and beyond”.
Osarenz notes that the company is also “leveraging our internal network” to “demonstrate our global approach with priority releases in other relevant territories, such as the US and France”.
Here, in the latest installment of MBW’s World Leaders series, ONErpm’s Osagie Osarenz gives us some insight into her career, her role at ONErpm, and her predictions for African music on the global stage..
What have been some of your career highlights to date?
I have had some memorable moments; at the top of the list would be joining ONErpm and the first-ever Wizkid headline concerts in Lagos, London, and Manchester. Working with 1da Banton on the “No Wahala” campaign was also monumental.
What are ONErpm’s ambitions and goals in Africa?
We are committed to finding music business solutions for independent artists and labels at all levels in Africa.
“We are committed to finding music business solutions for independent artists and labels at all levels in Africa.”
It goes beyond music distribution; we are passionate about the artist’s growth and the music that they create. We want to impact knowledge and help improve the general understanding of the music business on local and global scales.
How is ONErpm positioned in the markets in Africa where the company currently operates?
Definitely game changers. I daresay we’ve got everyone remodeling what services and value they give to independent artists in Africa.
“Our local presence in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, and South Africa gives us an edge in understanding the unique needs and challenges of the African music industry.”
We offer various services, from digital distribution and rights management to proper YouTube monetization, which is very important as YouTube is a significant platform for music discovery.
Our local presence in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, and South Africa gives us an edge in understanding the unique needs and challenges of the African music industry.
Where are the biggest opportunities for international artists in Nigeria and in wider Africa today?
Beyond music collaborations with African artists, which has proven a successful formula for global hits, I’m not talking about just the A-listers, but younger independent talents who could benefit from the exposure and bring high value with their unique sounds and audiences.
Touring and performing at music festivals are a great way to connect and engage with broader audiences. In addition, interviews with African media share perspectives that help uplift and educate the local music industry.
What creative or business trends are you seeing in Africa that we should know about?
In the past four years, especially post-COVID, there has been a more deliberate effort from artists and labels to produce higher-quality music and strategic marketing campaigns focusing on immediate environments and other markets.
With companies such as ONErpm, independent artists and record labels can now match up and surpass counterparts in more developed markets and perform on the highest levels.
In which markets within wider Africa are you seeing the most growth currently?
Nigeria and its diversity take the lead, emphasizing why we started our African operations here. In my role as the Director of A&R and Operations for Africa, we are now experiencing frequent successes with our artists and their releases, e.g., Angela by Boutross (Kenya) and Commando by Mavokali (Tanzania).
We now have over 5,000 accounts being created on the ONErpm platform monthly and over 3,000 music releases monthly across Africa.
What are the biggest challenges for the music business generally in Africa?
The biggest challenge is knowledge about the music business and access to learning materials and case studies that could help create a more lucrative space for music stakeholders.
“If artists, managers, labels, and stakeholders understood more, we’d have many more artists with longer successful careers.”
If artists, managers, labels, and stakeholders understood more, we’d have many more artists with longer successful careers.
Funding for higher-quality productions and marketing campaigns is a big challenge as well.
What are your predictions for the music streaming business in wider Africa in the near future?
Africa has a vast, rich, and diverse music landscape, with a wide range of genres and cultures, maybe the largest in the world.
“Africa has a vast, rich, and diverse music landscape, with a wide range of genres and cultures, maybe the largest in the world.”
As technology infrastructures improve in Africa, I predict that music streaming platforms will extend their reach across the continent by curating local and regional content to connect with the audience better.
The young and tech-savvy population will inform more brand presence for the major players and create a viable and lucrative market for music streaming.
If there was one thing you could change about the music business, what would it be and why?
It would be to educate and empower music stakeholders locally with knowledge about the business.
