Music Producer, Rotimi Akinfenwa Shares Experience On Music Career

CEO of SonG23 Productions, Rotimi Akinfenwa a.ka. Rotimikeys has over a decade experience in music production. He was behind Nikki Laoye’s hit single, ‘Only You’, and also produced the theme song for APC, Nigeria’s ruling party 2015 gubernatorial election campaign in Lagos State.

Inspiration Behind  SonG23 Productions
He is a music producer and businessman with experience spanning over 15 years. SonG23 Productions is a Premium and Complete Music/Audio solutions company.
They are music consultants that create and produce music for various uses including writing and producing music for artistes, Jingles and TV Commercial Sound Design  for Brands. SonG23 Productions  also craft sound design and post production for documentaries and movies.
The company was borne out of desire to produce world class music out of Nigeria across all these platforms.

Opportunities Rotimi Encountered Visualized Before  SonG23 Productions
He saw a lack of great music playing on the radio and at events.  Rotimi believes Nigerian music is amazing but the execution – quality of writing, instrumentation and delivery can still be greatly improved upon.
He saw SonG23 Productions as an opportunity to share his vision for improved standards in the industry with a few other like-minded individuals.

On Venturing Into Entrepreneurship
Akinfenwa had worked  for over 7 years with the biggest Advertising Agency in West Africa and  worked on a number of music projects for brands that caused  him to explore and expand his production prowess. He observed that there was a high demand for his skills, even beyond the Agency and the industry. He then took the decision in 2013  to start off.

On Balancing A Business & Other Personal Responsibilities?
Rotimi’s family is supportive and understand that a creative career such as the one he pursues requires long, irregular hours. He also ensures he schedules family time and time for other obligations weekly.

Dealing With Challenges As A Young Entrepreneur
Akinfenwa affirmed that funding remains a challenge. He further stated that, music production can be quite capital intensive, if one must use state-of-art equipment like he does.

Equipment and accessories are imported and with the Forex rates, it can be challenging. Finding investors  for other legs of the business can be quite an adventure.

On Creating Brand Awareness For SonG23 Productions With Social Media
Rotimi says; “Selling your brand on social media is about telling stories. I got quite active on social media in 2016, selling my personal brand and the business on respective handles especially on Instagram and Facebook and a lot of people who love my work have been able to follow it. I’ve also been found on those platforms by some clients.”

Future Plans For SonG23 Productions
He plans to expand the business so that he would  not only create music, we also seek  to create audio-visual that is entertaining and marketable.

Rotimi’s Akinfewa’s Mantra As An Entrepreneur
Being popular is not the same as being successful.

Advice For The Budding Entrepreneur
“Don’t seek the glamour, seek instead to influence your industry. Building a great brand takes time, so don’t try to rush ahead of yourself. Keep at it diligently and you’ll surely get there”