Wyclef Jean on OpenWav empowering artists to own their future

At the BRIDGE Summit, Grammy-winning musician, producer and Chief Creative Officer of OpenWav – Wyclef Jean sat down with Arabian Business to discuss OpenWav – his new platform designed to transform how emerging artists build their careers in an industry that has shifted dramatically since his early days in the 1990s.

“OpenWav, you know, for me… I went from cassettes to CDs to vinyls to streaming. I have billions of streams, but I made more money when I was selling records,” Jean reflects. “That means the model needs a new model. The new model for independent artists in the future is for them to become owners right from the start. OpenWav, there’s no middleman.”

By stripping out traditional gatekeepers, OpenWav aims to give artists direct control over their earnings and intellectual property. “If you’re an amazing independent artist, all you need is 1,000 people to follow you to start a business. With 1,000 people in America, $100 per year, that’s $120,000 a year. That’s your own business,” he explains. The platform also provides merchandise on consignment, meaning cash-strapped artists do not have to fund production upfront. “The strongest thing about OpenWav for artists is you own your IP. Your intellectual property belongs to you. The motto is simple: you are your own business.”

Jean admits that launching OpenWav amid today’s information overwhelm was not easy. “You’re in an era where everything is noise – 90% of it is noise and everyone is selling something,” he says. “We had to spend a lot of time personalising, talking to artists, getting on Zooms, helping them fully understand this. Slowly but surely, the testimonials now come from the independent artists. You’re no longer selling a product.”

At the BRIDGE Summit, his focus extended beyond OpenWav to broader questions of collaboration and youth empowerment. “The conversation we want to spark is how do we really work together in securing a positive and lucrative future for the youth,” he says. “If the leaders have the knowledge, the tech has the knowledge, and we as the youth… we’re not asking for anything for free. If we give the youth the information and the tools, they’re unstoppable.”

Jean envisions OpenWav and the Summit’s cross-sector dialogue creating a global creative network built on authenticity rather than algorithms. “When the wave connects, it moves. We’re hoping for a domino effect where artists have a new community to engage, talk to each other, share music. It’s not about the numbers but about the great content.”

With OpenWav, Wyclef Jean is pushing for a new era in which emerging artists define their own success on their own terms. “We build it straight for the artist,” says Jean – a mission he hopes will ripple far beyond the BRIDGE Summit.