“In recent times, with increasing technology, there is now the clear prospect of anyone getting involved in the music creation and distribution process, regardless of their level of experience or skill. This is ultimately great for the future of the global music industry.”

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Ken Oboh is an established online entrepreneur, writer, and internet marketer. He is a partner at REMIX.com and at Affiliate Marketers, a company that sells software tools for online marketing ventures. Ken designed this business to help struggling affiliates drive traffic to their sites through SEO, social media, and other marketing tactics. In addition to these ventures, Ken is also the co-founder of Glamour Modeling and is currently working on creating a new online platform to promote independent music artists, named UMIX.com. Ken has a background in law and marketing, and is also a prolific writer. He is an expert author on EzineArticles.com, with over 45 published articles to his name. Ken has a passion for entrepreneurism and entertainment, and is constantly collaborating with others in multiple industries. 

MO: Your background is in internet marketing, and you also own a modeling company. In addition, you have degrees in law, science, and marketing. We have to know: how did you get involved in the music industry?

Ken:  Around the time I was finishing my legal studies, I had some work experience in law. I decided that the hierarchical structure of the legal profession didn’t suit my maverick character, so I made the decision to go into business. Around that same time, I met my business partner, Chris, who was just completing his law degree, and happened to be a great guy with fantastic knowledge of the internet and its workings. We found we had a joint passion for business, within the music industry and the internet in particular. From then on, we embarked on a long and exciting process of learning great business principles and building our internet marketing business, which now serves as the foundation upon which we’re building our online music business.

MO: Tell our readers the basic concepts behind UMIX and REMIX. How will both of these sites operate together, and what is the overall goal with both sites?

Ken: UMIX is a site where the software will allow the average person to instantly (and at no cost) select any song(s) they like, whether they’re from a video on YouTube or an MP3 file, and create a “DJ mix” where the end of one song will automatically blend with the beginning of the next. They can add effects like scratching or vocal drops, just like professional DJs have been able to do for decades. The motto for UMIX is, “Anyone can be a DJ.” UMIX is also a social networking site, so after you’ve created your DJ mixes, you can share them with your friends, on UMIX.com itself, on Facebook, Twitter, any other social networking site, or via your Android Smartphone. REMIX.com is the second music site, and the difference between this site and UMIX is that while with UMIX, you are creating “DJ mixes,” with REMIX, you can actually get closer to making your own music from scratch. The idea is this: you can take an instrumental of any song you like, or import your own, and remix it with the vocals/acapella version of another song to create a completely different song. Just like UMIX, it’s also a social networking site that allows you to share your remixes with your friends online. The two sites complement each other, and together, they will provide a full spectrum of do-it-yourself music tools which anyone can use to make and share music, whether you’re a complete beginner, an intermediate user, or an advanced music producer. Our goal is to make it easy, fast, and fun for anyone, anywhere in the world, to create, mix, and share music online.

MO: Why do you think that there is a need in the music industry for sites like UMIX and REMIX?

Ken: Throughout the Industrial Age, music has traditionally been complicated, time-consuming, and expensive to produce and mix, which meant that it was beyond the reach of most people who were interested in making and/or sharing it. But in recent times, with increasing technology, there is now the clear prospect of anyone getting involved in the music creation and distribution process, regardless of their level of experience or skill. This is ultimately great for the future of the global music industry. The wider the cross section of people that get involved, the better the variety of music that will be produced, mixed, and shared, and the richer the landscape will be. This is the age of the “democratization” of music, and we’re committed to playing an active role in making this happen. 

MO: What is your opinion on the trend in the music industry of blending different genres of music? Is this diluting the uniqueness of different genres, or is it creating completely new genres?

Ken: It used to be very expensive for people of different cultures, backgrounds, and genres to actually listen to each other’s music and collaborate on creating music together, so genres of music were kept very separate. Now, people can more easily share their music with each other and collaborate. This is great for independent artists and, indeed, anyone who loves to experiment and make music which is a fusion of different styles. This will lead to an unprecedented explosion in the variety of music, and I, for one, completely relish the potential to transform the music industry for the better. However, we can see how music purists might view this trend as “diluting” the well-established music genres we have today, because, after all, they have been brought up deeply identifying with and/or specializing in creating one music genre. They have an emotional stake in keeping things as they are. This instinct is so strong that it’s almost as powerful as a religion in some people’s view. But we’re very confident that they will come to realize that because of their deep knowledge and appreciation for the genre they love, embracing modern tools can lead to even greater enjoyment of the best parts of the genre while infusing elements of other genres they may never have considered before. We believe that once they start to look beyond the initial pangs they’re bound to feel, they will be pleasantly surprised at their own response to the new technologies and the fact that it can enhance their enjoyment of their much-cherished genre, rather than diminish it.

MO: How has your background in internet marketing given you an advantage in creating UMIX and REMIX? Do you plan on doing an extensive marketing campaign for each site?

Ken: Our background in internet marketing has been absolutely invaluable in creating UMIX and REMIX. My partner, Chris, is a hobbyist music producer who used to spend a lot of time on various music production sites, so that is a fantastic vantage point from which to see the industry’s future. Over the last decade, we’ve been involved in working with independent artists across three continents, helping them promote their music online. We’ve also worked on our own internet marketing business, so all this experience has put us in a good position to build UMIX and REMIX. We plan on building the sites as social networking platforms, so our marketing is very much a “grassroots” approach, which will involve independent artists and DJs/producers, as well as hundreds of music lovers using the technology.

MO: When can users expect the sites to be fully functional, and what can they do now to get involved with the projects?

Ken: We’re working on the beta version of UMIX at the moment, and we’ll be rolling it out over the course of the summer/autumn this year. Right now, we’re giving access to a limited number of people by invitation, and this is the best way to lock in your free membership. If you would like to secure your membership, you can go now and sign up on our website, www.UMIX.com, and you will be instantly placed on our priority list; the instant UMIX goes live, you’ll be among the first people to get in and enjoy the app.

MO: What advice can you give to our readers who are looking to break into a new industry? What barriers have you had to overcome?

Ken: My absolute best advice is to take the time to think very carefully about what your passion is, and let that guide the decision of what industry/area of business you choose to go into. I know a lot of very successful people who have had great success in an industry they have no passion for, and they feel “empty” inside. The worst part is they don’t even know the root of the problem. If you’re ambitious, hard-working, and open-minded, you most likely have the key ingredients to succeed in almost anything you work at. All you need is industry-specific knowledge, training, and experience to succeed. But here’s the crux of my advice: if you end up becoming successful in an area you have no passion for, you’ll spend the rest of your life trying to “buy” fulfillment, but if you go into a field you absolutely love, even if you succeed more slowly than you would have in an alternative business, your success will also come with fulfillment. You’ll have lived a great life, you’ll gain recognition for your efforts, and maybe even revolutionize an industry and become part of the history of a movement. In other words, you’ll be rewarded with a lot more than money, and that’s priceless.