Empire records: Anderson Paak
the way of his plans, a move into Tileyard (“it’s kind of cool, there’s Platoon and Apple”) was part of Shami’s strategy. When restrictions are lifted, a new London HQ is a priority as a foundation of the global expansion.
“My view has always been that if I could grow this large enough to expand globally, I want to make that happen,” he says. “We should put pockets of energy all over the world. “I feel like London is the gateway to Europe, and it’s in many respects the centre of the world – on the map, it’s halfway to Asia, halfway to the Western Hemisphere and it’s the crossroads to so much culture.”
Childhood visits to an aunt also left their mark. “I was always fascinated by London – that cultural diversity, the energy, the fashion, the music,” he reminisces. Shami set up the UK as a hub with a team including business development, marketing, sales and A&R. “I gambled right, because now we’re building out in Nigeria, and that’s going to be talking to London and also talking to San Francisco,” he explains. “We built out Southeast Asia through Jakarta, as well as Shanghai, and they’re also talking to London and San Francisco. “I was watching a programme the other day, and they said that when a spider spins a web, it can feel the energy all over the web, it can kind of retrieve data from that web. Building these global offices and tying it all back to San Francisco is like a global web, where we can retrieve analytics, energy and information. Then we can take that energy and put it back into marketing, promotion and sales, and then create these global phenomenons like Tyga.”
He names Afro B as one of their “amazing UK artists”, who signed to Empire following the global success of the single Drogba (Joanna). “He’s the perfect example of an artist that could take advantage of all these offices that we have all over the world,” says Shami.
“Yeah, that’s like telling a Tesla owner I want to put a bigger battery in your car,” he smiles. “They’ve proven to be a strong ally, with their rapid growth and development in the UK,” says Little Torment’s manager “Waf”, co-owner of the label Scummy Records. Empire’s expansion includes a publishing division, which was unveiled last autumn. “That was a no-brainer,” says Shami. “There were so many hit records that we were putting out that were unpublished. I was like, ‘You guys are not monetising the publishing, you’re leaving a lot of money on the table.’”
E
The division is headed up by industry veteran Vinny Kumar and Al “Butter” McLean, who previously signed many hip-hop artists at Kobalt. “It was an amazing statement,” says Shami. “Not only because he was a vice president of creative at Kobalt, but also because he’s just an amazing
mpire is also working with UK rapper Little Torment and Shami describes it as a “natural relationship”.
individual who’s achieved great accolades in the publishing space, and definitely has cultural currency.” Thanks to Shami’s know-how, Empire is independent as a publisher. “We’re starting to do our own collections,” he says. “I’m big on technology, so our software is proprietary. It’s a longer, harder road to travel, but in the long run it allows for a lot more flexibility and scalability. “The easy route would have been to just let somebody else do the admin. But I’ve never been a fan of the easy route, I want to build a global powerhouse. If I’m going to build a global powerhouse, I have to own the technology, the supply chain and the relationships.”
The new division is an extension of the artist-friendly ethos at Empire, according to Shami.
“Now that we’re building out studios and recording a lot in San Francisco, it felt like a natural thing to start signing writers and producers, hiring engineers and creating a really fertile environment for publishing to explode for us [alongside] the record side of the business.” Of course, rapid expansion can be followed by sudden acquisition, such as Sony’s recent big deal to buy AWAL. However, Shami says he has “zero interest in selling my business” and is committed to remaining independent. “Autonomy is king,” he says. “I wake up in the morning, I make a decision and I don’t have anybody to ask. I wouldn’t be able to accomplish what I’ve accomplished, or what we’re about to accomplish, under the umbrella of another company saying what’s okay and not okay to proceed with.” So what motivates him to keep building Empire? “It is a business – it’s the music business,” he says. “But for me, the music is more important than the business aspect. I’m not motivated by some of the things that many other people in this segment of business are motivated by.” Shami has also been on a mission to drive the inclusion agenda alongside the scaling up of Empire. As well as being gender-balanced, it’s established diversity within its ranks. “I believe that your company should be a reflection of the audience you’re marketing to,” he explains. “I always thought it was really strange when I met with other companies’ teams, and I’d be like, ‘This is not really a reflection of who we’re selling this product to.’” Shami, whose family is Palestinian, recalls his high school clique who were Black, Indian, Mexican and Filipino. “I grew up in the heart of diversity in San Francisco, in the Bay Area,” he says. “So I built a company that I felt was a reflection of the environment that I grew up in, but also a reflection of where America and the world is headed. I’m big on inclusion, cultural diversity and gender diversity. It’s something I’m very proud of and very passionate about.” Before our time is up, Music Week takes the chance to ask this tech-focused entrepreneur to look into his crystal ball. Where is the industry heading next?
“Blockchain is going to have a place in the business, whether it’s some kind of crypto-related royalty payment system,” he suggests. “I’m interested heavily in that. It looks like NFTs [non-fungible tokens] are becoming a thing, like crypto art. That’s making quick headway. “So I’ll be really interested to see where all that goes. I think the next five years are going to be fascinating.”
“FOR ME, THE MUSIC IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE BUSINESS” GHAZI SHAMI
musicweek.com BAY WATCH
Empire has worked with hip-hop stars including Anderson Paak,
Tyga and Xxxtentacion. Here, Ghazi Shami shares insights on some of their biggest artists...
ANDERSON PAAK “Anderson Paak’s [first two LPs] are something
I’m very proud of and that we’re very passionate about as a company. We still have a great relationship with him, that’s why we put out the Free Nationals [Paak’s backing band] album. They’re nominated for a Grammy. It’s a beautiful relationship that evolved into a lot of success.”
XXXTENTACION “I was in high school in the ’90s when Kurt
Cobain died. I wasn’t really an alternative rock guy, but I remember the impact that it had on my school. That’s the only thing I can compare with [the death of Xxxtentacion]. The kid was freakishly talented, incredibly intelligent. It just really sucks that his legacy got cut short.”
TYGA
“He was being treated pretty horribly by the marketplace. I looked at it and I was like, ‘Yo, this kid is a hitmaker, he knows how to make hit records, all we’ve got to do is give him the budgets and give him a green light.’ He dropped Taste and the rest is history. Within 24 hours of putting that record out, we knew it was a hit.”
KENDRICK LAMAR “We worked closely with Kendrick’s label Top
Dawg early on. A lot of that was just getting them to understand the nature of where the business was headed. That was a time where free mixtapes were really big. And we were a big part of the narrative of saying, ‘Let’s put this on the DSPs and let’s figure out how to monetise it.’”
BUSTA RHYMES “Busta Rhymes is a highly intelligent human
being, he has a very deep knowledge of the business. I said, ‘You still have an incredible fanbase, let’s figure out how to convert you from an artist that traditionally sold CDs and downloads into a streaming artist.’ We have a lot of philosophical conversations.”
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