Adeyemi Femi NTS

Images: Bexy Cameron

How does a good day begin for you?

A perfectly brewed coffee, a solid gym session, a hearty breakfast, perhaps?

Whilst all of these outcomes are subject to many-avariable, there’s a consistent way that music lovers worldwide are beginning their mornings: by tuning into NTS. Whether you’re a casual listener in Tokyo, or a daily discorder in Montreal, the platformfounded by Femi Adeyemi - serves as a 24-hour, seven days a week companion fuelling discovery and fandom in equal measure.

Learning on the job

Simply a disgruntled music fan, I decided to make a change. When I say I actually listen to everything I truly mean it. So when I saw that I, like so many other talented musicians, weren’t getting the airtime they deserved, I built a platform for those who just couldn’t make it onto the mainstream airwaves.

Now, as someone who didn’t have above-average technical skills, building a radio station was a challenge. But I realised if I leaned on my friends, my passion, and some good old posters stuck around London, I could build something that not only I needed but so many others needed too.

It wasn’t easy to begin with, but I understood why I was doing it. With £3,000 and a dream, I began renting an empty studio in (pre-gentrification) Dalston, put out some flyers, and before I knew it, I had 50 or 60 people who wanted to take space on our programme. Whilst I had started this for slightly selfish reasons, before I could really understand what was happening, all of these signups proved to me that this thing I was building had legs.

By any means

I started in Hackney, not only because it was cheap (that is not a typo, this was over a decade ago) but it already had the essence I was trying to capture. Everyone was hustling. Whether it was the barber next door, or the butcher across the road, there was no way anybody was not going to succeed, so I felt like I was in good company. Additionally, it was reflective of everything I was trying to create: a hub of diverse sounds, with a multitude of layers and stories that could connect with absolutely anybody. So the foundations were already there.

Whilst the pirate radio model of charging for a space on the platform was working just fine, it just wasn’t enough to keep the lights on. I didn’t need that whole office space, so I subletted the rest of it and kept a tiny corner with desks just to keep the dream alive. As well as having this radio station, I had to become this office manager, ensuring that I was there at 7am every morning to open up, even if I’d been out until 5am ...

I’ll tell you a funny story just to show you how seriously I took the hustle. It’s 2018, and we’ve got a stage at Notting Hill Carnival. If you’ve ever been, you’ll know that trying to stream anything from a place packed with millions of people, with a complete reception blackout, is pretty much impossible. But where there’s a will, there’s a way. My partner Sean and I went to a flat across the street from our stage and simply asked if we could pay to use their internet. They agreed so we bought a 100m long ethernet cable and streamed directly, using wired connections in the place where the only connection you could get was with the person you might end up dancing with.

And there’s no place like home, all these years later, we’re still here, right in the same studio it all started - although we have multiple homes now.

The music comes first

There’s only one way to define our fanbase. Not by age, location, occupation. Simply put, our fanbase is obsessed with music. Where we have people from every corner of the world tuning in, the thing that bonds them together is the music. Nothing else. There’s a big, shared energy that is born from the urge to dig deeper, to learn, to share, to boast about the artists and the music you know that nobody else in your circle does.

And we’ve got here by following a simple rule: there are no rules (cliché I know). But there really aren’t. When we invite individuals onto our airwaves, they play whatever they want. It’s the foundation of discovery because we all have that secret weapon that we know will turn a passive listener to one that’s locked in, that’ll have them reaching for Shazam before we transition to the next track.

When you have a fanbase as dedicated to something as ours, it’s inevitable that people and brands will want to endorse that, share it and ultimately be a part of it.

Building communities through collaboration

I’ve always placed importance on the need to be present physically, although we’re an online radio station. Whilst we’ve got a community of people we’ll never be able to physically meet, it’s nice to think they know where to find us.

Aside from the 600+ DJs that are part of the NTS family, there are many brands we’ve collaborated with, celebrating the wealth and strength of our community. It all started with Carhartt, who approached us three months after we launched. They understood, even then, what we were creating. Twelve years down the line, we’re still working together, exchanging ideas. We work with all sorts of brands, gaming brands, alcohol brands, clothing brands. If a brand wants to speak to the obsessive music lover, they know exactly where they can find them. Whether it’s simply a radio show, merch or an event, every time we collaborate with brands it’s an open con- versation – never us being instructed. We want to ensure that everything we do reflects well on our solid audience because, remember, the music comes first.

The future is bright

I found an old notepad of mine from 2011. I’ve done a lot but at least 12 of those ideas haven’t been done, so the job is far from finished. There’s a bigger world out there and I can’t wait to get lost in it.

That’s why I started all this, in pursuit of discovering everything that’s unknown to me – it always makes for a great story. Everything I do distils down to understanding the story. Whether I’m playing Final Fantasy VII in my spare time or building out our offering as a record label, the process is the prize – the gift that keeps on giving.

Keep reading whilst I write new chapters.

Explore Femi Adeyemi’s world:

Instagram: @eddie_fiction + @nts_radio

Online: nts.live

Galloping onto the scene with his debut single Old Town Road, Lil Nas X quickly became a number one artist across the globe. Early on in his career, he delivered confirmation of his sexuality and he also opened up about the “draining and straining” pressures of being a Black gay artist in the music industry. Despite this, Lil Nas X continues to make history, celebrating his sexuality with an onstage kiss and constantly breaking stereotypes surrounding rappers. Alongside the video for Montero (Call Me By Your Name), he penned an open letter to his 14-year-old self with the hope of opening doors for other queer people. From twerking on the devil for his music video to releasing Satan trainers, Lil Nas X has his fans in a choke hold and as we’ve seen on TikTok they will happily pole dance with him to Hell.

Instagram: @lilnasx

Music managers are like superheroes – appreciated by those who know, invisible to those who don’t. A mysteriously incognito character with the best part of ten years of work within music, Phoebe Gold is music manager defining what success means on her terms and the terms of her artists. With a small but strong roster that includes PinkPantheress, Tommy Gold, tendai and others, Gold is able to chase the work she wants. Crafting a different world for her artists that oozes with authenticity, it seems the focus always is connection over commerciality – with the latter coming as a result of the former and never the other way around.

Phoebe Gold

Co-founder of Up Close Management.

Nobody could’ve predicted how far KSI would come when he first recorded a video from his (at that point) humble abode. YouTuber, rapper, actor, boxer and multi-business owner are just some of the ways you could describe the 29-yearold. Building an empire that transcends not only realms of entertainment but also industries is something that a multitude of large corporations are dying to achieve – it’s incredible to think that KSI has managed to achieve this from playing FIFA in his bedroom. In 2022, KSI’s bout with Logan Paul entered the top five highest-selling fights in history, whilst the pair’s Prime drink was potentially the most spoken about drink in the past year. The Sidemen Charity Match, a collective which KSI is a part of, raised over £1m for selected charities, and had 2.6 million concurrent viewers, making it one of the most successful events of its nature.

Instagram: @ksi

Ksi

YouTuber, rapper, songwriter, boxer and actor.

As a saxophone player, tech entrepreneur Ethan Diamond already had a genuine love for music prior to launching online record store and music community Bandcamp in 2008. An essential revenue stream for independent musicians and labels, Bandcamp allows the sale of digital items and physical merchandise. As a place where fans can discover, connect with, and directly support the artists, it choose to waive its usual 15% fee on a number of occasions in order to support artists affected by the shutdown of live music during the Covid-19 pandemic. Diamond holds the belief that music is essential for humanity and so rather than focusing on selling advertising or a subscription plan, when it comes to his platform artists have to come first.

Instagram: @bandcamp

Yvon Chouinard

Rock climber, equipment manufacturer and founder of Patagonia.

Reluctant businessman Yvon Chouinard did not have his sights set on becoming a billionaire when he founded outdoor clothing and gear company Patagonia. The avid philanthropist, who began giving away 1 percent of Patagonia’s revenue to environmental organisations in the mid-1980s, last year announced that rather than going public the company would be opting for purpose. Chouinard gave away all of his shares in Patagonia to a trust that will use future profits to help fight the climate crisis, turning shareholder capitalism on its head by making the Earth its only shareholder. As a self-proclaimed “existential dirtbag”, Chouinard’s focus is on being a craftsman rather than chasing personal wealth.

Instagram: @patagonia

“It starts with hello” is the message in a Bumble campaign, encouraging women to overcome their hesitation and start the conversation. Bumble’s Founder and CEO, Whitney Wolfe Herd, had set out to create a platform where women made the first move in a bid to create a more respectful relationships app. Being different from the other apps on the scene has given Wolfe Herd the mighty task of shifting cultural norms to be a women-first dating platform. The female business leader was also a co-founder of Tinder but exited after filing a sexual harassment lawsuit against the company. When it comes to managing her own business she is committed to a healthy work environment and offers great parental rights. More than just a dating app, Bumble stands as an ally to helping advance gender equality and putting an end to misogyny. Its online shop also extends the relationship by selling everything from wedding gifts to baby clothes - a humorous acknowledgement that making the first move can lead to new adventures.

Instagram: @whitney + @bumble