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Oxfon has signed Cannibal Photo:Courtesy
Oxfon productions, a company well known for digitising music through the sale of ringtones and call-back tunes, has signed artistes in its bid to immerse itself fully in showbiz. Oxfon, which won an award during last year’s Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) Awards as the best paying Premium Rate Service Providers (PRSP) company, has signed artistes including My City My Town hit maker Cannibal.
Through its new offshoot — Oxfon Music — the company, which was started in 2006 by Dennis Makori and Andrew Mbuya, has ventured into music to offer artistes the ‘full package’.
“Apart from focusing on ringtones, we have decided to venture into production of music, videos and packaging of our artistes through marketing and giving them music direction,” says Brian Mhando, Oxfon director of photography.
In a volatile market that has seen many entertainment outfits have more to offer than a studio, the entry of Oxfon is bound to create a marketing shift due to the digital aspect of its operations.
“Any artiste signed to us will benefit by having their music marketed as ringtone and earning through that,” says Brian, whose company targets the entire east African region.
From late last year, Oxfon has been producing a ten-song album for Cannibal. They have also produced a video for Bobby Mapesa, Sana and Chidi Benz, with equipment worth millions reportedly shipped in from outside and more on the way. Other artistes involved with Oxfon are VBO, one half of The Buggz and Skeleton Man.
The company run an online start search, where 20 upcoming artistes were picked with the top three getting recording deals.
“The rest have to prove their ability to us,” said Brian.
According to Cannibal, his decision to get signed was informed by the organisation levels of the company.
“I have been around and I have seen the mess that artistes are sometimes subjected to. A company that would spend as much as Oxfon have spent on me is not easy to come by,” noted Cannibal.
