Quote: "I know a lot of people don't have the luxury of knowing their roots, but I know my roots and that was super important for me when moving back to Nigeria."
The Afropolitan Podcast highlights Afropolitans who embrace the unknown and walk with purpose. Through this podcast, we aim to empower Africans in the Diaspora to maximize their potential and contribute to the development of a vibrant and progressive black community.
In this episode, we chat with Michael Ugwu, the MD of Freeme Digital, an online digital music distribution network in Africa. Michael is a crypto enthusiast who holds a degree in Economics. In 2019, he liquidated most of his real estate investments and other assets and threw it all into bitcoin, a risk that has paid off over the years.
Michael was instrumental in helping Sony Music launch in the West African market. He led several projects from licensing catalogs to MTN, Jidenna tour to Nigeria, signing deals of major artists in Nigeria to Sony. Join us as Michael discusses his journey running a distribution company in Nigeria and how NFTs can revolutionize the music industry.
Michael's Reading List:
Show Notes:
1:50 Michael’s journey into the crypto space
6:21 Founding Freeme Digital and its mission
13:55 Challenges faced by African founders in the tech ecosystem
16:01 Impact of the pandemic on Freeme Digital and operational challenges
18:54 Michael’s first significant encounter with failure as an entrepreneur
23:22 Lessons learned during his time at Iroking
27:55 Navigating challenges with signed artists
31:26 The potential impact of NFTs on the music industry
40:08 Books that have profoundly impacted Michael’s life
43:50 Michael’s perspective on what it means to be Afropolitan
The Afropolitan Podcast is hosted by Eche Emole, co-founder of Afropolitan. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Jamit, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Connect with Afropolitan:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/afropolitan
Website - https://www.afropolitan.io/
Learn the strategies behind tech and crypto within the African diaspora. We demystify the pathways to limitless value creation within these emerging technologies and the communities around them.
