Since it was founded in 2010, San Francisco-based music company Empire has become a major industry player with a run of streaming smashes from hip-hop stars including Tyga, Xxxtentacion and Money Man. Here, CEO and founder Ghazi Shami opens up about staying independent, driving diversity and global ambitions...
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n a city known as a centre of tech innovation, Ghazi Shami has built a progressive music company that’s become a global force for hip-hop. The current restrictions mean that Empire’s founder and CEO is a solitary presence at the firm’s San Francisco HQ when he connects with Music Week to outline his global ambitions.
“We’re on the top floor of a beautiful high-rise in the middle of downtown,” he smiles. “There are windows all around when you step off the elevator. So for me, being a San Francisco native and coming from humble beginnings, to be able to work in an environment like this is pretty special.”
As he looks out from the 25th floor of his glass-walled office, this music and tech visionary reflects on the genuinely game-changing success of the independent label, distributor and publisher over the last decade.
“There’s been a trajectory for 10 years, the growth curve continues to intensify – more hit records, a more well-equipped staff, better signings,” says Shami, whose self-belief is matched by his success. “The DSPs are zooming consumption and subscribers. There are so many things on the up.”
Empire helped launch the careers of artists including Kendrick Lamar, Cardi B and Anderson Paak. Part of the appeal was Empire’s original ethos to “rip the veil off” from the traditional music business, according to Shami.
“I thought it was insane that in other segments of industry there was complete transparency,” he says. “And in the music business you were limited to maybe a PDF file if you were lucky every quarter, that was maybe backdated 18 months.” More recently, the company’s had huge streaming hits with Xxxtentacion, French Montana and Money Man, whose collaboration with Lil Baby on last year’s single 24 was personally brokered by Shami via an Instagram DM. A tribute to Kobe Bryant, it has over 160 million Spotify streams.
Tyga’s 2018 single Taste feat. Offset became a global smash and is approaching a billion streams on Spotify alone. In the UK, the single peaked at No.5 and has 1,306,513 sales, according to the Official Charts Company.
Empire has attracted established acts over the years, including Snoop Dogg, TI and Fat Joe. Recent campaigns include music from 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes and – proving it’s not just about hip-hop – Blurred Lines singer Robin Thicke. “With a lot of the established artists, there’s a freedom in our system that they probably have not experienced at any time in their career,” says Shami.
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The majors have built up their own label services operations over the last decade. What does Empire offer to artists?
“Passion, cultural currency, a very deep understanding of the culture and of what the landscape looks like,” says Shami. “I’m very big on empowerment. I like to spend a lot of time with artists one-on-one and really empower them, whether it’s teaching them about finance or how to structure their corporation, how to make better records. It’s so much deeper than just music.”
During our hour-long conversation, Shami’s rapid-fire responses combine sharp business acumen with obvious sincerity about his belief in the music. Busta Rhymes is one veteran rapper who was drawn to Shami and the independent Empire set-up, following previous albums released with majors. The long-awaited Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath Of God was released in October and featured Kendrick Lamar, Mariah Carey, Mary J Blige, Q Tip and Rick Ross. “Working with Ghazi and the Empire team has been an incredible experience,” Busta Rhymes tells Music Week. “The collective effort, support, enthusiasm and excitement they offer is what you would want from your support system at any record company that you’re in business with, especially when it’s a partnership. That’s what you need for any album or project you’re doing together to succeed. They have shown that above and beyond every level of expectation, particularly for me and my album.” “He spent over 10 years trying to put that album out,” says Shami. “We managed to get it out the door in six months, because we figured out what it was that made him tick, and what would make him be excited and compelled to want to put out that body of work.”
“Ghazi is a very smart and forward-thinking businessman,” adds Busta Rhymes. “The greatest part about being in business with him, as partners, is that’s exactly what it has been in every capacity and that’s what a true partnership is really about. He exemplifies and displays constantly what it is to be pro the collective win.” As well as being the kind of artist-friendly music executive who’s happy in the studio (he spent the previous night with Sean Kingston mixing his “incredible” new album), Shami’s Silicon Valley origins mean that he’s just as confident with tech. Did that give him an advantage at the advent of streaming? “Absolutely, I was at the forefront of streaming,” he says. “I started working in the dot com era. I embedded my first music video on a web page in 1999 – this was six years before YouTube. It was just fundamentally native to where I grew up. I went to
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PHOTO: Jessica Chou
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