On the cusp of his first album release since 2008, Akon wants to steer his considerable fan base away from services like YouTube to a new — and Akon-branded — app where he'll give away music for free, supported by ads.
That might strike you as a head-scratcher, given Akon's millions of album sales. But with digital downloads falling and streaming on the rise, it makes sense to the R&B star. Akon spoke exclusively with the Associated Press about his plans. This interview was edited for brevity.
Question: In 2010, you said “Stadium” would come out that year.
Answer: Unfortunately, there was a lot of changes happening within the Universal (Music) building. They were restructuring. And my project unfortunately got caught up in the midst of it. In the meantime, I was building the Konvict Africa brand, releasing artists such as P-Square and Wizkid. As that was happening, I also got involved in energy and started the Akon Lighting Africa project. I started realizing how much the music played a role and offered me the opportunity to branch off outside of music. ... So, it was about that time that I wanted to focus on the album. I recorded so many songs. The biggest challenge was: How am I going to release this?
Q: So, you decided to release them via an app. How did that idea get started?
A: This is going to be the first time ever done in the history of music. I had a friend named Dada Mills who was working with a company named EscapeX. Together, we came up with a formula, pretty much called the “app album.” I'm releasing multiple albums on my platform, an urban album, a world-music album, a house album, a reggae album called the Island album and the pop album, which we'll probably release off the platform, which will create more marketing to lead you back to the app itself.
Q: So, the pop version will be downloads?
A: The pop version will be released through a record company (Atlantic). That's the way of tying the app in with the majors.
Q: How did the label feel about the idea?
A: From the moment I explained it, they were all in. There were like, well at least just give us one so we can be attached to this thing somehow. They understand the power of digital. They're like, the fans are the ones who create this success in the first place, so if you have the fan base, then guess what, you have the buyers. As long as you have buyers, you can sell them anything; it doesn't have to be music. It can be headphones. Just ask (Beats co-founder) Jimmy Iovine.
Q: What about Apple Music? Does the pop album go there, as well?
A: Yeah, the pop album will go to all the traditional sources. The way I look at it is, as long as we can capitalize on all those resources, that'll be the way to market and promote four albums. One hand washes the other and both hands wash the face.
Q: How do you feel about how artists are compensated through streaming platforms?
A: No artist is happy with how they're getting paid from the streaming platforms. Outside of subscription models, there are other models. Look at Facebook. How do they make billions? When you look at this app, my fans are doing exactly what people are doing on Facebook. The only difference is they're going to be on my app a lot longer.
