'Without human curation, it’s more challenging for new artists to reach those critical first audiences’

Today’s artists are living in a ‘musical utopia’ in many ways. They have complete control over every aspect of their careers, all the tools and technology they need to create, distribute and promote their work, and can come to market without the need to negotiate the gatekeepers of old.

That’s according to Mahogany co-founder and MD James Gaster, who adds, however, that the role of partners and curators on the industry side has actually never been more necessary.

Mahogany is the global multi-platform music brand best known for its Mahogany Sessions video channel, which has hosted performances from global stars including Billie Eilish, Hozier, Michael Kiwanuka, Ed Sheeran, George Ezra, Bastille, Mahalia, Leon Bridges, Rag’nBone Man, Jacob Collier, Jessie Reyez, Cat Burns.

The Mahogany YouTube channel alone has over 900,000 subscribers and more than 300 million views.

2024 has been a big year for the company. In May, the industry saw the launch of Mahogany Songs, a digital distribution and bespoke artist services platform with an emphasis on human curation and communication.

Then, in August, the company launched the Mahogany Music Fund – open to artists either releasing music through Mahogany Songs or looking to release a future project through the platform, allowing them to apply for grants of up to £2,500 each to supercharge the creation and promotion of their music over the next 12 months.

In both cases, the expansions have been in direct response to the needs of modern independent artists.

“As the landscape is shifting so quickly, we feel it’s important to regularly ask artists directly what they need, so we recently invited our community to contribute their opinions to a survey on the biggest challenges they face as independent creators and where they most need support,” Gaster told The IMI. “Unsurprisingly, money was at the top of the list, with 42% citing this as their biggest challenge – which was how the Mahogany Music Fund came to be born. Other significant challenges included building an audience (19%), growing a team, and getting support from tastemakers, streaming services and the music industry as a whole. All of these findings give us a north star for what Mahogany Songs is here to do.”

And, in a world where AI and algorithms are increasingly influential, investment in the human side of the business is equally important for Mahogany and its clients.

“It’s clear then that the needs of artists have changed, with them now often required to take on the role of film maker, marketeer and sometimes manager,” Gaster suggested. “It’s exciting to build everything from the ground up, but can be daunting for some.

“Today’s artists know who they are, and are able to get their music into the world without anyone’s approval. In some ways, this is a kind of creative utopia, but when 86% of tracks have under 1000 streams (according to Luminate) it’s clear that simply being able to release music isn’t enough.

“Since we started out in 2009, we’ve seen the volume of new releases grow exponentially, while the channels and platforms available to amplify them are proportionally limited, meaning that the whole centre has shifted. The growing influence of algorithms has been seismic in terms of allowing platforms to filter this volume,” he added. “But without human curation – an area we continue to believe and invest in – it’s more challenging for new artists to find their first foothold and reach those critical first audiences and start building the all important ‘superfans’.”