Banky W announces dissolution of EME as a record label

Singer announces dissolution of EME as a record label-Banky W

Nigerian singer, Banky W and his partners who formed the Empire Mates Entertainment (EME) record label have now rebranded.

According to a lenghty Instagram post by Banky W, EME which has over the years developed and nurtured superstars like Skales, Wizkid, Niyola, Suka SOunds and more will no longer serve as a record label.

He says, ‘after 9 years of being in the Nigerian Music Industry, we decided it was time to quietly close the Record Label Arm of our business’.

Read his full post below…

Empire Mates Entertainment (EME) was started by @captdemuren & I, way back in 2001/2002 – in my dorm room at my University in NY. The reason we used the word “Empire” was because Tunde and I were crazy enough to dream that we could build a company that would eventually become an Empire.. one that would serve as the launching pad for not only my career goals in music, movies and other interests… but one that would also serve as a stepping stone for other talents to become more successful and achieve their goals as well. We started the record label part of it right there in my room, which we relocated to Lagos around Vals day 2008 – and we thank God for guiding and crowning our efforts thus far; we’ve played our little part in helping discover/boost the careers of a number of talents in the Music business (some of your favourite Artists, Producers & Engineers..) and we are forever grateful for the opportunity to live out our dreams by giving others a platform to shine as well. In January of 2017, after 9 years of being in the Nigerian Music Industry, we decided it was time to quietly close the Record Label Arm of our business (Part 1.. pls read next post ?)

A post shared by Banky W. (@bankywellington) on Feb 20, 2018 at 9:08am PST

(Part 2 – continued from previous post) Essentially we have restructured our business.. and instead of operating just as a record label, we have expanded and changed our focus a bit… we are now a full fledged Media Agency that focuses on Creative Marketing, Advertising, PR, Brand Events/Activations AND a talent management firm. This switch in focus has been amazing and fulfilling.. behind the scenes, we have been able to impact the launching and marketing of a number of brands and companies the way we did artists.. but even in the talent management side, we are no longer restricted to working with just Music Artistes. We still work with Musicians, but we also work with OAP’s, Actors and are evaluating sports management as well. The goal was always to find talents and brands we believe in, and partner with them to help them become more successful… now we have expanded to do that for more than just the Music business. We are excited about our client portfolio: the corporate brands we rep, as well as the talents. At the moment, our clients are: @djxclusive83, @ebuka, @toolzo, @adesuaetomi, and of course yours truly Mr W. (And a few corporate brands as well) Talk to us for all things Marketing/Advertising/PR/Media/Entertainment. We shoot tvc’s and documentaries just as great as we do music videos. We launch brands and products as well as we have launched Artists. Need some help with your digital marketing? Need an ad campaign? Influencers for your next launch? Finding the right brand ambassadors for your product? We are your one stop shop for the marriage between corporate Africa and Entertainment. For a simple reference, it’s kind of like how Jay went from Rocafella to Roc Nation. Just.. same name, new targets. @theofficialeme_ is our IG page, and for booking any of our clients pls holla at us directly. Grateful for our past, and excited about our future.. this is EME. God bless you all and thanks for the support.

A post shared by Banky W. (@bankywellington) on Feb 20, 2018 at 9:41am PST

EME was founded by Banky W and his best friend, Tunde Demuren in 2002 while they were at the university in New York.

The label was home to Wizkid, Skales, Niyola and Shaydee.

Wizkid reportedly parted ways with EME in February 2013, to start his own label Starboy.

Multiple reports at the time said Wizkid was raking in about N24 million monthly for the label but got 25 percent from every show, while Banky W and Demuren shared 50 percent and Osagie, Wizkid’s former manager, got the remaining 25 percent.

This was believed to have formed the basis of the pop star’s exit from the label.

The following year, Skales also moved on from EME following the expiration of his contract.

Although unprofessional, it is a regular practice in the Nigeria’s music business for artistes to dump their record labels once they record commercial success.

The labels would in-turn drag the artistes to court, the move which hardly yields the desired results. The labels are often the biggest losers.