Nigerian Bloggers

Full Name: Demola Ogundele.
Date of Birth: February 10, 1981.
Origin: Ondo State.
Nationality: Nigerian
Occupation(s): Blogger, Writer.
Years active: 2006 – present.
Twitter: @demola
Website: notjustok.com


NotJustOk.com was formed in 2006 and has steadily grown into one of the most visited sites within the Nigerian communities online. Voted #1 Nigerian music website in 2010 and 2011, NotJustOk.com is on a mission to spread Nigerian music to all corners of the globe.

Exclusive from notjustok.com’ is a tag line that Nigerians have come to recognize on most of our favorite tracks. The notjustok.com name is a silent giant when it comes to representing and promoting Nigerian music online. Often times we have wondered how notjustok.com started and the powerful team behind such a powerful brand. Meet Demola Ogundele, owner of notjustok.com and see how his love and passion for Nigerian music gave birth to notjustok.com that we have come to love and trust for our Nigerian songs.

What was the basic idea behind notjustok.com?
Notjustok.com kicked off in 2006. It started because i wanted to share some of my experiences, the things that I love, restaurants I visited, basically lifestyle things with people out there. Also, I wanted to share the kind of music I loved too. I’ve been in the States since 1999, and I realized that Nigerian music Is getting very good. The likes of Dbanj, 9ice and Naeto C got very popular but I found that I couldn’t find them online.

I thought of posting these content for Nigerians abroad. Initially, it was a small setup and didn’t get a lot of traffic initially. Then in 2008, 9ice performed at Mandela’s 90th birthday, and with an amazing software that took me almost 12 hours to get, I was able to get the live streaming of just 9ice’s part. I put it up on Youtube and then on my site and the response was amazing. That was where the focus changed for notjustok.com and I realized that there is a market for the Nigerian music online.

�I’ve been in the States since 1999 and I realized that Nigerian music was getting very good. The likes of Dbanj, 9ice and Naeto C got very popular and I found that I couldn’t find them online. I thought to start posting these content for Nigerians abroad.�

How did the name notjustok come to be?
One day, I was thinking of names and I wanted it to have some kind of meaning. At the time, I was reading a book by a marketer, Seth Gordin ‘Purple Cow’, and what the book talks about is just being remarkable in your own unique way. I started looking for words that were similar and remarkable to me. Then it struck me that whenever I went for a date and the guys asked how it went, you would say that it was ok for a regular date. I thought of how I could make it better and I added ‘not’ to it. So notjustok means more than just ok, kind of fantastic. So I think it was an inspiration from God.

”Then it struck me that whenever I went for a date, and the guys asked how it went, you would say that it was ok for a regular date. I thought of how I could make it better and I added ‘not’ to it. So notjustok means more than just ok, kind of fantastic. So I think it was an inspiration from God.”

What brings you into Nigeria?
I’m visiting to check out the scenes and prepare for our concert coming up in December. We are trying to make it a yearly thing so I’m here to prepare the ground for this year’s edition.

Did you foresee that rate of growth in the Nigerian music market?
Initially I didn’t really care, I just wanted to put stuff out. The turning point was the 9ice event, but I really didn’t think it would grow so fast. One of the things that contributed to the growth of notjustok.com is that we have moved from the platform that we were on to a bigger platform. So a few things changed that sensationalized what we stood for. People loved the new look and designs and commented on it. I think also that the viral aspect of our notjustok.com tag line that goes ‘exclusive from notjustok.com’.

Most people say that they have heard the tag line but don’t know what it is, which is one of the challenges we face, bridging the gap so people can recognize what notjustok.com stands for.

The vision of notjustok.com changed from the time of 9ice’s performance. What has the vision for the new improved notjustok.com become?
The real focus is to find remarkable Nigerian artistes that have good songs. We receive over 300 songs daily and we put up only about 2% of what comes in, not because we are mean, but we like to focus on quality. So what we did was to push Nigerian music online. Our vision became to expose Nigerian music online because at the time we started, there weren’t too many websites that existed solely for the purpose of promoting Nigerian music. Today, every Nigerian song that is a hit today,has been online for almost 6 months. So if you are looking for any new song from any artist, you can find it online. This wasn’t the case in 2006. So we have somewhat accomplished the mission for notjustok. At least there is a platform that is pushing Nigerian music out there.

Another thing we have been able to achieve is the feedback we get. We get about 120,000 – 150,000 visits a day from fans who want to listen to their favorite artists, comment and download. We have been able to create a community of Nigerian music lovers who can interact on our platform. Artists can get feedback, gauge the reception of their music and know how to work better. So to a large extent we have been able to achieve our mission.
�The real focus is to find remarkable Nigerian artistes that have good songs. We receive over 300 songs daily and we put up only about 2% of what comes in, not because we are mean but we like to focus on quality.�

How do you get your content?
Artistes send it to us via email. Initially, we had to beg, we introduced ourselves, sent emails to artistes like Ikechukwu, Naeto C and others. Initially they were all sceptical. After a while they saw what we were trying to achieve and started sending in their music. So we get by email and we sell albums too. If they reach out to us, we prepare an agreement with the artist which we both sign to.

What other forms of revenue generation does notjustok.com have?
Our major source of revenue generation is advertising.

Who would you say has been the biggest act so far for notjustok?
We used to have this notjustok hype thing we used to do but we stopped it temporarily. We however intend to start it again soon. But there is a lot of talent out there, a few being MI, Wizkid, Ice Prince, SDC, and the new talent Dammy Krane who is big in the university scene. There are a lot of artists that have been very big.

Would you say that social media impacted on the growth of notjustok.com?
It has helped a lot especially through Facebook. Twitter is steadily taking over, being a micro blogging site and helping with direct feedback and all, but social media has been amazing in helping the growth of notjustok. Most of the traffic we get however is direct through referrals and all.

Notjustok just launched a mobile site. What Is the general idea behind that?
We thought about It for a while but it wasn’t a priority. Ovie came to Nigeria and saw the need for a mobile site. He saw how people used their mobile devices. We didn’t just want any mobile site, we wanted to be able to play, stream and download music on the mobile site. But the deal is that the demand via twitter for easy and accessible music made it a priority to get the mobile site up and running. So people could easily get music instead of waiting to get home before they could get the music.