Record label owner and singer, Olagookun Eniola, speaks to RAHMAN IS’MAIL on his budding career and the success of his Enlag Entertainment. Excerpt…
Please, introduce yourself.
I’m Olagookun Eniola, a student in UNILAG. I was born by a pensioner dad and trader mom (laughs). Growing up was tough. No steady three square meals. I attended public schools for and on several occasions I missed classes because there were no school fees; also neither Christmas clothes nor birthday cakes.
Did that experience push you into entertainment?
Not really. Entertainment runs in the family. I started as an event photographer and my brother is an artiste. Entertainment is what I have been passionate about and what encouraged me to start a record label in 2014 was that there were too many random and average acts being shoved down people’s throat as star artistes. So, I decided to bring different artistes and brands together who are rocking the industry now with game changer vibes.
Tell us about your record label.
It is called Enlag Entertainment. It is a record label that just released one of the finest singles in the industry in the last two years, with good videos and star artistes collaboration. Our artistes have performed in coveted stages and venues in Nigeria like Delineation, Industry Nite, Freedom Park, and upscale clubs.
What are the challenges confronting you in the industry?
The major challenges are expensive media and lack of copyright law enforcement. Bloggers will publish your exclusive iTunes releases for free, some will even use your song for commercial without paying you, yet you paid to record these songs and you are even asked to pay for publicity by the same media people. So having a hit song could still be a long way from recouping one’s investments. But the way out is for me to do my own shows with my artistes headlining with other popular acts. So, instead of waiting for music sale and bookings, we will book and sell our songs at venues.
What are the programmes lined up for artistes on your label?
Presently, we have club tours, star features, concept videos, viral marketing, and star cosigns, then more media publicity.
What are would you like the government to assist the music industry? The government just keeps promising support for the entertainment industry, we don’t have copyright law enforcement yet the government needs to enforce copyright laws, so we can combat the big piracy market that has been earning almost all our profits…
Can we compare the entertainment industry in Nigeria with that of the western world?
Nigerian entertainment industry is still growing. We are still lacking the structure and there is no proper music law enforcement yet. The only area that both can be compared is in terms of good videos, talent, popularity, and income from shows because we have seen our artistes skyrocketing in last three years; the likes of Ajebutter, Tuface, Reminisce, Wizkid, Olamide who have been knocking out their foreign counterparts on world online stores like iTunes.
