Pulse Exclusive: Industry Nite, A decade of Nigerian music showcase

Industry Night is Nigeria's longest running talent and music platform, and as it clocks 10 this year, Pulse had an exclusive interview with the man behind the event.

Ten years, that is how long music platform, Industry Nite has been running, every Wednesday from 2008 as they celebrate a decade of monumental performances, breakout talents and on stage memories that will last a lifetime.

Industry Nite is Nigeria''s foremost talent discovery and performance event.

The event which has served as a platform for both upcoming and established acts to make a name and showcase their talents has taken different shape and locations over the decade, but consistency has been its keyword, and 10 years after, the event continues to grow strong as it transcends into a touring event.

In celebration of its tenth year anniversary, Pulse has an exclusive sit-down with the CEO of El Carnaval Limited, owners of Industry Nite, Matthew Ohio, who took us through the journey, the challenges and the achievements.

Who is Matthew Ohio?

 

''Matthew Ohio is from Edo state, a show promoter, I come from a family of five, four girls and I am the only boy, my Dad was a diplomat, so I was introduced to music quite early, as we always had parties at home, I have been in this business for about 15 years now.''

Speaking on what led him setting up Industry Nite 10 years ago and how he came about the name for the event, he says;

''In 2007 we had a big tour around Nigeria with 2face Idibia, we went across Nigeria and I noticed that there were so many talents, so much hungry talents who were just in need of a stage to showcase their talents.

So we just decided to set up something that was accessible, that was frequent, for people who don't have that network of friends to help showcase their talents.

The very first edition was in 2008 at a place called Coconut Groove in Awolowo Road, it doesn't exist anymore, it featured May D and Ibiyemi, they were the two on an opening day.''

 

On the name Industry Nite, he says it is not entirely a new concept.

''In America, people in the leisure and entertainment industry gather every Monday (which is like their off days) to network, it was called 'Industry Night', so we just adapted it to the music industry in Nigeria.

We chose Wednesdays because it is the time most artists are free, so as time went by and it got bigger, we changed the name from Industry Night to Industry Nite and we trademarked it.''

On how he has kept it going without charging a gate fee

''For 10 years, it has been free, at times we have special editions like during Christmas when we have to charge but it has always been free.

To be completely honest with you, it has been driven 70% by passion, we have had sponsorships, a lot of them have sponsored.

But it is a difficult event to sponsor, because it is every week, all year round, so sponsors tend to come and go, but we have been able to hang in there, also support from the record labels and the artists who perform for free or almost for nothing have helped us, the popular labels have helped us grow.''

Listing artists who started their careers on Industry Nite

 

''There are quite a few, CDQ, Ycee, Yemi Alade, Sean Tizzle, Tiwa Savage's first performance on her return to Nigeria was at industry, she was not even billed to perform.

Bizzle Osikoya brought her to Tribeca, and she came on stage and did a freestyle of Whitney Houston's ''I will love you'', no one even gave her that much attention at the time, but I am glad to see how big she is now.

Yemi Alade toured Nigeria with us, Davido also, when Dagrin died, we had a big Industry Nite and it was at that show that people first really noticed Wizkid, he blew everybody away with his performance.''

Asked if artists given a platform return to show appreciation

''Some of them No, but most of them yes, Tiwa Savage launched her ''Red'' album on Industry Nite, Wizkid featured on our international tours.

Yes, there are a few of them who feel they are too big for the platform, but you have to give back so people coming behind you can see and use the platform.''

 

Putting a cost to a regular edition of the event

''On an average, it depends on the size, the regular industry night which is a club venue usually cost between 700-1M, artists don't really charge us.

The biggest challenges we face is we don't have proper live show venues, all we have is clubs or big halls, we don't have plug and play venues for concerts, so venue has always been a problem, and sponsorship.''

Speaking on his vision and if he envisaged Industry Nite will be here 10 years after

''To be honest, at that time there was just nothing happening and I felt the industry needed something like this.

From my experience doing the 2face tour, I knew how capital intensive it would be, so I just thought we could do something smaller, to give people a platform and for industry friends to come around and network, it is also a networking platform.

Not more than 5-10% of artists that were relevant in 2008 are still here now, we are grateful to God and it makes me proud.''

For the 10th year anniversary, we are going to have an Award/Dinner just to appreciate people that have supported us in the past, we are touring 6 to 7 cities across Nigeria.''

On Industry Nite going on tour, he explains;

''In music, there are two major revenue streams, touring and album sales, unfortunately, African artistes tour Europe, Asia, but find it difficult to tour Africa, so that is our major aim.

To use it as a platform where artists can tour. We have always tried to tour Africa 2 or 3 times a year, that is our big vision to create a touring platform for African artists across Africa.

It is sad that people in London tend to see Wizkid more than people in Enugu or people in the US see Davido perform more than those in Kaduna.''

''We want African artists to tour Africa, Nigerian artists to tour Nigeria, we need to be able to do proper nights, that is our plan going forward with Industry Night.

As big as all these artists are, they cant tour Nigeria, it is not really the artists' fault, it is a lot of things, touring is usually a network of venues, promoters and agencies coming together to make it happen, so that is part of what Industry Nite represents.

The major highlights of Industry Nite over 10 years

''The first one definitely was 2face's album launch, he has always given us that edge, the Mavin launch was another, then MI2 launch.

Unfortunately also the Dagrin death, he had performed at Industry Nite six weeks before his death, so we did a wake-keep at Industry Nite, which brought a lot of people together, so that was also helpful to the platform.

I also remember Wizkid's first Industry Nite, we used to be at Oriental then, the whole place was packed from Oriental to 1004.

There was a certain bank having a retreat at the hotel, they had their whole MD and board of directors and the event, but the place was so packed that we even bounced the MD and board of directors at the gate that they had to go get another hotel.''

On what has made Industry Nite stand out with the emergence of more platforms,

''I think it is that conduit that we use for upcoming artist, that is really the secret, the fact that you can come to an Industry Nite, perform and have the who is who in the Industry watch you perform, the fact that we have all these artists we have helped in the past come back and appreciate the platform.

This year, we have started doing a monthly edition, we see there are more platforms, so the weight is a bit off us, we don't have to do it weekly, I don't see those other platforms as competition, I think we even need more of that.''

Addressing the issue of artists paying to perform at Industry Night,

There have been those who have questioned the process of selecting upcoming talents to step on the Industry Nite stage, and he clarifies the situation;

''Because we get a lot of requests for people to get on board, what we started doing now is auditions, we get them to buy forms for the auditions, which is like a screening process, because we need to filter the people who go on stage.

There are no sponsors, so they pay a minimum of N5,000 and once you pass the audition, you get multiple chances on the platform.

We want to have a pool of 200 upcoming and talented artists that we want to be using for our shows and also refer to talent manager and event organizers. The audition happens once every two months'', he concluded.