He knows the type of challenges independent artists can face. He's gone through all the ups and downs and has stories to tell.
Which is why he has a passion for uplifting artists and giving them platforms to share their music.
Tabure Thabo Bogopa Junior (34), popularly known by his stage name JR, is one of the biggest names in South African hip-hop and he recently collaborated with Sizwe Hlongwane and Tshepo Mgaga to develop Africa’s first music distribution app for independent artists.
The application is called Fyve. It is 100% black owned, funded and developed and will officially launch on 1 June.
“I have been working on this project for two years now and a project of this multitude required people from different career backgrounds which was technology and music. We wanted to create a tech business that would advance where artists are from the entire continent. There is currently nothing like the app and the there has been a huge growth in independent artists. The African music scene has not been as independent as it right now,” he tells DRUM.
JR says that he wanted to create a platform that will ensure that independent artists don’t have the same challenges that he had earlier in his career.
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“As a label head and as an independent artist I didn’t want artists with no record label to struggle, I understand what independent artists need in order to maximise their opportunities for success and for them to compete with the signed artists. Artists want to remain in control of their art and that is what the app will provide them with, full control. In the world we are one of four companies globally that offers this service, and we are the only one in Africa.
“The entire platform is developed from scratch and it’s made to make it easier for people to distribute their music in less than five minutes. We have made the process very easy for people”.
Sizwe Hlongwane is the managing director of the application with a technology background, and he says that they were excited to collaborate with JR in order to bring this music app to life.
“We want to give power back to the artists, we want them to own their music rights. We know of unfair contracts amongst record labels and artist and this app will eliminate the unfair treatment. The music is a solid platform, we can compete globally, and our app is very easy to use,” Sizwe says.
The app will come with key factors such as artists being able to upload as frequently as they want and to make money off the music app by tracking how many downloads and money they have made since uploading their music. Artists will be able to withdraw the money every month.
“With Fyve we are saying that you can release today, tomorrow and any other day you want to keep the frequency up. It reports back on how well you are doing and how much money you have made on different DSP’s. It lets you know which platform your music is playing on and the playlists that have your music. We give analytics and we give artists the opportunity to withdraw the money they make straight into their bank accounts. We pay every 30-day cycle,” JR tells DRUM.
They are the front leaders on something revolutionary that will empower artists and give them the opportunity to share their music globally, they say with pride.
“Competitors haven’t had the technology that we put into this app and the innovation to make the lives of artists easier,” Sizwe says.
JR is the founder of feel-good live sessions and he says that they have had to take a break from them because of Covid-19 but also because of concept duplication and having other people do the same things.
“We didn’t want to be irresponsible. When we do come back, we will come back stronger and for now we want to come back with a more competitive offering."
JR says that one of the lessons that he has learnt about the music industry is the power behind studying the people you are making music for so that you are able to deliver what they expect from you.
"We want artists to see themselves as long term artists. Treat your music like a career, use social media to find what your fans want and use Fyve to deliver it to them."
