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