BandLab has heralded the ability for today’s artists to be “global from day one” – as a British rapper active on its platform enjoys worldwide viral streaming success.
Tkandz (Ayotomiwa Akande) is a 19-year-old self-taught artist from Essex, England, with over 63,000 followers on BandLab.
He’s been a frequent user of the free music-making app to experiment and share songs with his followers.
NOW OR NEVER is Tkandz’s breakout hit, debuting on top of both the Global and U.S Spotify Viral 50 earlier this week.
The rise of the track, which also features producer CXSPER, has resulted in a spike in popularity for Tkandz, who currently has approximately 4 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
The virality of NOW OR NEVER is also impacting on other key charts, with the track debuting at No.136 on Billboard‘s Global 200 Excl. US chart for the week of October 11.
Earlier this week, it also entered Spotify’s Top 50 daily charts in the UK, Poland, the Netherlands, and more.
Discussing the worldwide impact of the Tkandz track, BandLab CEO & Co-founder, Meng Ru Kuok, said: “Tkandz didn’t have to break out of the UK first, he was global from day one.
“Artists today aren’t starting in one territory; they have the possibility to reach anyone, anywhere if you empower their creativity.”
“Tkandz didn’t have to break out of the UK first, he was global from day one. Artists today aren’t starting in one territory; they have the possibility to reach anyone, anywhere if you empower their creativity.”
Meng Ru Kuok, BandLab
A self-taught producer who started making music at 15, Tkandz has now racked up over 40 million streams on Spotify.
In a recent interview on the Capital Xtra radio station with DJ Semtex, who introduced him as having “the biggest rap track in the world right now,” Tkandz said that recording NOW OR NEVER felt like “my moment to really shine for myself”.
In late September, the track was featured in a TikTok video posted by Barcelona soccer star Lamine Yamal.
BandLab, which counts over 100 million creators, recently expanded its music licensing service, introducing what it calls “a structure with clear guidelines” that allows artists, labels, and publishers to signal interest in licensing their music to train AI models.
Those using the platform can now indicate their interest in AI training licensing deals by marking songs as “Open to AI licensing.”
In April, BandLab announced a partnership with Sony Corporation to integrate the latter company’s 360 Reality Audio technology directly into BandLab‘s platform.
Starting this year, BandLab users will be able to access spatial-enabled beats in the firm’s Sounds marketplace.
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