by Ify Obi

For Addy Awofisayo, forging a fulfilling career path sent her across different routes. She went from utilizing her degree in finance at Microsoft, working in the Jamaican healthcare system as a program manager with the Clinton Foundation, to building her name in the media world at Discovery Communications on the content team for international markets. 

"Every time I took a career pivot, there was always a doubt," Awofisayo says. "I call it my quarter-life crisis. I just knew that there was more to this world. I wanted to go out, explore and change the world."

Her quest would eventually lead her to YouTube in 2018, where she took on the role of Content Partnership Manager first and then Head of Content Partnership for Sub-Saharan Africa. Now, in her current role as Head of Music Sub-Saharan Africa, she combines her love for music and storytelling to champion the best of African music globally. This has resulted in key campaigns such as pioneering the Africa Day Concert on YouTube, contributing to the launch of YouTube Music in Nigeria, and forging partnerships for emerging talent with Music Business Academy and Sarz Academy.

In conversation with AMAKA, Awofisayo shares her thoughts on the African creative economy, strategies for supporting local creators, and more.

Earlier, you mentioned that you want to change the world. How are you doing that in your current role?

The creative economy in Africa is still the newest and fastest-growing one. You have people who, with a camera, can build an empire that, in turn, creates jobs. When I started at YouTube in Nigeria, we had creators, but we hadn't provided sufficient support and resources for them. So my team and I created a project, which I am very proud of, called YouTube Creator Bootcamp. We hosted 20 creators in a week-long programme where we shared knowledge about how to grow and get the most out of the platform. This was back in 2019. Now, we're in 2023, and a lot of those creators are trailblazers of the content creation world. DODOS is one of the people that gained almost a thousand per cent growth in her channel. For me, there's a lot of professional and personal joy in knowing that I was able to play a role in helping African creators in fast-tracking their journey.

And how does your background as a storyteller impact that?

I do this through our initiatives. For instance, launching the Black Voices Fund in Africa. It gave us the ability to understand the artistic journey of content creators and music artists, and how for them, storytelling is key. When I work with artists, I always try to figure out what else they can display on their channels outside of just music videos. I think of how they can give fans insight into their world whether it's through something like a tour diary when they are on tour or giving glimpses into their studio sessions.

I find the point about encouraging artists to establish themselves on the platform outside of music videos quite interesting. There have been a lot of conversations about the relevance of music videos and YouTube engagement for artists in today's world. What is your standpoint on that?

There's still room for music videos. Music videos bring visual representation to a song. In this day and age, before music videos even come out, someone will create some challenge or interpret the song in their way and upload it, and it will catch fire. That is why artists themselves need to see how to engage with fans outside of just typical music videos. Fans sometimes can influence how you even think about your song. Music videos still have their place, but other types of video representation like challenges, short-form videos, or teasers also play a role in bringing a song to life.

In terms of discovery and fan engagement for African music globally, YouTube has been instrumental. From the Oliver Twist dance challenge in 2012 to Burna Boy's 2022 show at Madison Square Garden. Is there a strategy to drive higher engagement from audiences on the continent?

The challenge we have with viewers on the continent engaging online comes down to internet access. You mentioned Burna Boy's MSG show. I remember watching it online even though I was at the site and I saw a few comments like "This is so cool. I've enjoyed watching this but my data is about to finish so I'm gonna have to log out" <laughs>. When you are watching it live on YouTube, it does consume quite a bit of data and that is something that some viewers on the continent are mindful of

Until we get to a point where the cost and accessibility of the internet is not a barrier, we will see high consumption across all digital platforms. At YouTube, we work very closely with telcos to develop different programs to help ease that barrier so that people have access.

How important is local content in terms of driving audience growth on the continent?

Oh, local content is huge, especially in Nigeria where we love consuming our music and movies. We have so much joy as consumers in listening to our own. I always tell creators that when they are creating content, they need to think about their audience, particularly the local audience. It's important to have export audiences because that also diversifies your audience and revenue, as you're able to earn money from other parts of the world, which is good. However, your local audience is probably the one that will help popularise your content. I tell that to artists too. Rema, for example, blew up in Nigeria first before songs like "Calm Down" started taking off outside. But there are places [for instance] like South Africa when you check the YouTube charts for the top music that they're listening to, you’ll find quite a bit of songs from outside the country.

The same can be said about East Africa. For regions like that, is there a strategy to encourage the consumption of local content?

Yeah, I mean there are but at the end of the day, it's down to what people are consuming in those markets, right? We do support local artists. In Kenya, for instance, Sauti Sol was part of our first Black Voices Class. However, what's going to show up on the charts is what people are consuming. And if people are consuming content outside of their market, there's only so much that we can do. What we can do is support the creatives in the market and provide them with promotional opportunities to be visible.

I'm curious. Is there a significant difference between how the diaspora consumes African music and how audiences on the continent consume it on YouTube?

Well, it depends on the artist. It depends on the song. We put out some stats a few years ago which said that 70% of afrobeats' consumption comes from outside the continent. The UK, US, and France are the top countries where afrobeats is being consumed. It all still comes down to internet access. If people on the continent have easy access to the internet, they’ll be consuming more online. But they are closer to the music in other ways through CDs, radio, and clubs.

How does YouTube support local independent artists?

So we launched Foundry a couple of years ago. I think Rema was one of our first African artists. Then we had Tems, Joeboy, Black Sherif, and Bella Shmurda. The purpose of Foundry is to provide an opportunity for independent artists to thrive on the platform. We help them get seen and have more access to audiences on the platform. When I look at the careers of the artists that have been part of Foundry, it's, it's very fulfilling. There's that proud mom moment. I remember working with Rema when he had just launched a YouTube channel about four years ago. His channel only had a couple of subscribers. Now I think he's at definitely over a million, probably two or three million subscribers. And obviously, his career has skyrocketed since then.

One of the cool things about working with artists in programs like Foundry or Black Voices is that we implement these new and exciting ways of engaging on YouTube with them. For example, Rema has videos that show him engaging with fans. There is a video he did, which was like 10 questions with Rema, where a fan, interviewed him and gained insights into his world. 

With Black Voices, we also support independent artists. Fireboy DML was in our first class for artists in 2021 during the thick of COVID when there were no concerts. We worked with Fireboy and his team to host a concert at home for his fans as well as a Q&A using our premium feature called Afterparty. It was such a great experience for him and his fans, who were really thankful that he put on the show for them because they couldn’t see him anywhere else.

Azawi is another artist from Uganda, and she was in our second class for Black Voices Fund. I remember meeting with her a couple of months after she had been part of the program and she said, “Addy you and pretty much YouTube have made me a king back at home. All thanks to you guys for the support.” Seeing herself on the billboard in New York was a great experience for her and a great promotional tool. We also had a program back in 2019 called Afrobeats Exports. This was when we were steadily seeing a rise in afrobeats songs and artists globally. The essence of the program was to support emerging talents in afrobeats and help them break out in their home countries like Nigeria/Ghana. We had Kiss Daniel, Simi, Teni, and Reekado Banks in the first wave of that program. Looking back now, It’s so weird calling them emerging talent in 2023 because these artists have gone on to break boundaries of their own. A lot of the initiatives we’ve done at YouTube on the continent have been centred around supporting, promoting, and amplifying independent artists.

What do you believe lies in store for Africa as an emerging market?

There's still so much growth and opportunities to come in the creative space. We're barely scratching the surface now. We have the ingredients for the creative sector to really take off, right? One of them is young people, the GenZ. Those are the people that are really consuming and creating content. We have a huge population, we have young people, and we have creativity. We just need barriers such as Internet access to be resolved. When you look at Latin music or K-pop, it shows how far African music can go. Not just music, but our fashion and movies as well. 

What are we to expect from YouTube in the next couple of years?

As it relates to Africa, we are certainly doubling down on our support for creatives on the continent. When I took on this role, I truly wanted YouTube to be a zeitgeist of African music and culture. I want people to think of YouTube when they think of platforms that support and promote African music and culture and the growth of the creative industry. We are going to keep implementing initiatives to that effect.