It’s no more news that 2016 hottest artist in Nigeria, and Triple MG act Tekno has inked a recording deal with American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America.
Though, Tekno alongside with his manager Ubi Franklin and Paul Okoye of Upfront and Personal Booking all jet out to New York to finalized the deal few days ago. With this, Tekno now joined the league of Nigerian artistes are have started doing business with American music company.
In 2016, the likes of Davido, Wizkid, Ycee and Ayo Jay are all involved in different business with Sony Music in a terrain that’s value to favour both party. In recent interview with Linda Ikeji, Ubi Franklin disclosed that the preliminary contract had been signed and sent back for vetting, which kick started the process.
“We were in a very busy period, it was difficult for us to travel, it’s not something that you go and travel, do, stay for one day and come back, so what they did was to seal up something before next year, so what we did was a preliminary signing. “We’d been going back and forth for about three, four months, when the contract was right, we had to sign our copy here and send it to them, when we go back there, we would pick up our copy, the one they have signed, that’s when we will officially announce it,” he further explained.
Insider source close to the Tekno’s Sony deal revealed that the ” Pana ” singer is signing a 3-single deal with Columbia Records, to be produced and distributed and sold by the music house across the globe, in various markets where African music is being consumed. The deal was brokered by Nigerian entertainment mogul, Paul Okoye of Upfront and Personal and MMMG co-owner, Ubi Franklin.
Tekno‘s ” Pana ” was a major hit in African continent and beyond and also had shown a potential for crossover in different markets.. The video was released on August and it has recorded 16 million views on VEVO.
With the power at Columbia Records, after insider source has hinted us about situation on ground, it seems the Columbia Records throw their weight on him by investing in the single and 2 others. ‘Pana’ will officially be the property of Sony Music Entertainment, and will be distributed across different markets.
It is likely that it’s longevity of ‘Pana’ will be explored with a remix designed to make it penetrate more. This is not uncommon. In 2016, Ayo Jay’s deal with RCA Records, involved a remix to his chart topper, ‘Your number’. It featured Chris Brown and Kid Ink.
After ‘Pana’, According to our source, there will be two other singles to be released by Tekno under Columbia Records, these singles will pass through the terms of the deal. Based on the performance of all three singles, all parties will now explore the option of an extension, or a new deal. If the singles perform poorly, then its goodbye from Columbia.
The full deal will be officially announced any time next week, but the singer who on the January 10, jetted off to New York in company of Paul and Ubi, and have the deal in the bag. Tekno will be provided with an upfront payment, and then would get a percentage off sales of the records.
In a recent interview with Linda Ikeji, Ubi Franklin, had revealed that preliminary contract papers had been signed and sent back for vetting, which kick started the process.