Blacktag, an up-and-coming streaming platform, ensures Black creators are paid fairly for the content they make and the trends they set.
Aiming to become the premier platform for brands to find Black artists to collaborate with, Blacktag will offer all the staples of mainstream streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. The platform will produce original television series, along with feature-length and short films.
Founded by West Africa-born entrepreneurs Akin Adebowale and Ousman Sahko Sow, the company secured an impressive $3.75 million seed round in November of 2020.
The company’s thirtysomething co-founders push the importance of fairly compensating Black artists for their work as the forerunners of mainstream culture.
“We’re not only creating opportunities for artists and creators to monetize their work that is the foundation of our culture,” said Sow in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “But also creating a place for every fan who has ever scrolled through traditional platforms looking for people who look like them and content that truly resonates, only to come up empty.”
The company has 100 content creators on the streaming service so far, and is aiming to double the amount by 2023—according to Insider. The entrepreneurs claim Blacktag was namedropped in the Facebook Papers leaked last October. The collection of documents brought to light the rampant hate speech and misinformation plaguing the social media site, and the company’s fruitless efforts to regain the teen demographic, Bloomberg says.
Blacktag’s first film, a 7-minute short called “Black Art Is Black Money,” launched as a Vogue exclusive last February. In the film, several Black artists gather to discuss various instances throughout pop culture history in which Black culture was co-opted by white artists without the Black creative originators receiving the credit or the financial gains.
“BABM [Black Art Is Black Money] is short for our core pillar that Black economic power should and must equate Black creative power. This is our core message and key driver,” Sahko posted on Instagram. “At Blacktag, we are laying the foundation to finally put money into the pockets of Black creatives. Black Art is Black Money is just the first layer of bricks in that foundation that audiences can expect from us.”
