Matt Brown — Chief Excitement office at Digital Kung Fu and author of Your Inner Game
With Matt Brown — Scaling a business to $100 million in 36 months
In short
A conversation with the man behind The Godfathers of Deep House — an Atteridgeville-born forensic auditor turned DJ, producer and label owner — about why deep house speaks to the soul, and how he built a blockchain-based streaming platform that pays independent artists their royalties within 24 hours instead of 18 months, while blocking piracy. The one takeaway: Deep house is presented as a Monday-to-Friday, all-day music that fuses into any environment rather than dominating it.
Who is the Godfather of Deep House and what did he do before music?
Born and bred in Atteridgeville, Pretoria, he studied a BCom at Vista University and a higher diploma in computer auditing, then started what he describes as the first black computer auditing firm. It has since grown into the largest black-owned forensic auditing firm in the country, specialising in digital forensics and forensic auditing.
What does "nostalgic deep house" actually mean?
It is music built with classic elements meant to put the listener into a trance, with the nostalgia only registering afterwards as a pull back to that same place. He wants tracks that can sit unobtrusively in a boardroom discussing a billion-dollar deal and then shift the same room into a vibe.
Why do producers on the label have to read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People?
Because working from the inside out makes it easier to understand how the world outside works, and that effectiveness shows in the final product. The rule of thumb is that a track must hit the producer's own soul first; whatever it transmits then reaches listeners the same way.
Where did house music come from?
Chicago, where it was originally played in warehouses, which is where the name came from. Pioneers such as Frankie Knuckles — now called the Godfather of house — fused disco and funk while aiming for something closer to gospel in feel, which is what gives deep house its soulful character.
How does a forensic auditor end up working with blockchain?
Through a patent filed in 2001 for a project to revolutionise vehicle licensing and registration, where the existing system was driving fraud, corruption and vehicle theft. The design was meant to cut across other functions, and what it described has turned out to be blockchain technology. He approached it from a risk and control perspective as an auditor.
Is Africa well placed for the fourth industrial revolution?
Yes — he argues Africa is best positioned to lead the digital economy because of both mineral resources and human capital, and notes the president raised the digital economy in the SONA speech alongside a 4IR summit. The main obstacle is language: Spain and Germany use their own words for blockchain, and local terminology is needed to speed up adoption.
How does the platform get artists paid within 24 hours?
Artists of any genre upload quality content, every stream is recorded in real time, and within 24 hours the system has computed the royalty owed and the artist can withdraw it. The model cuts out the middleman and targets independent artists, replacing a system where payment can take 18 months.
Can music bought on the platform still be pirated?
No, according to him. Tracks can be downloaded but only play in the platform's own media player, so no open MP3 leaves the system. Because records on the blockchain are immutable, he says that if they are the only recipients of a track they can guarantee it will not be pirated, which should lift revenue.
What happens to people who train as DJs and producers?
The label has partnered with the Pioneer DJ Academy so trainees are carried through to the end rather than leaving with only a certificate. The strongest production students automatically begin supplying content to the label, so they are never lost from the system.
In their words
It talks to the soul. This is the kind of music that connects to the soul.
it's not only distributed, the trust is also distributed, which means whatever record you put in there, because it's distributed worldwide, we find that you need to collude with a million people to change a record. That's practically impossible.
So the turnaround time for the time your music is streamed, the time you get paid, it's 24 hours.
as opposed to the current model where people wait 18 months to get paid. What are you surviving on during that time?
so for that reason I can tell you we are best positioned to actually lead the digital economy
Key takeaways
- Deep house is presented as a Monday-to-Friday, all-day music that fuses into any environment rather than dominating it.
- Blockchain's distributed trust and immutable records mean a record could only be altered by colluding with a million people, which builds in honesty by default.
- The core problem in music is that content creators do not receive revenue, which makes arts and culture unsustainable.
- Paying artists within 24 hours of a stream creates continuous revenue, unlike a model where they wait 18 months.
- Adoption of 4IR technology in Africa depends on translating terms like "blockchain" into local languages.
- A South African-built music platform is already fielding requests from artists around the world.
Show notes
On this episode I chat with Matt Brown about his new book Your Inner Game 12 principles for high impact entrepreneurs. It was an absolute treat chatting with Matt and the book is definitely a must read.
To claim your free digital copy email Matt with a question about himself or the book
Frequently asked questions
How does the pricing compare with other stores?
He says competitors average 29 to 30 rand per track, while his platform charges around R14.50 per track. On the gold subscription — 120 tracks a year at ten dollars a month — the effective price drops to roughly two rand and eight cents a track.
Where is the music being listened to?
The online radio station reaches 150 of 283 countries, about a 68 per cent global reach, with listenership growing to over half a million since 2016. The biggest consumption comes from Germany and, unexpectedly, Russia.
What are the two events being discussed?
A free workshop on the 26th, where he will explain blockchain to songwriters, guitarists, composers, vocalists and producers, and a main event on the 27th where the technology is demonstrated live during a deep house set. Five double tickets were given away on air.
Why did the concert move away from Sun Arena?
Time restrictions — the Sun Arena slot ran only six to eleven. The new venue is the label's own club with a capacity of 8,000, where the event can run from 2pm through to the following day.
Where can artists find the platform?
He points to a Facebook page and website for PeerTracks Africa, plus peertracks.com as the international part of it. The label sits at thegodfathers.co.za, with a Facebook page for The Godfathers of Deep House SA.
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