He’s your favourite musician and yet you don’t know his name – his music has been heard by billions; his videos seen by millions. He has thrown the rule book of accessing music out of the window, allowing people around the world to not only access it for free but to use it in any way they see fit. He’s the Pharaoh of Funk and the Sultan of Retro Electro – he’s Otis McDonald and he’s pleased to meet you.
Taken from his album People Music, ‘Little Bit Longer’ will also be released by Tracktribe, an initiative which promises to revolutionise access to music and offer opportunities to more musicians than ever before.
Located in San Francisco, Otis McDonald (the performing name of Joe Bagale – a homage to both Shuggie Otis and Michael McDonald) is producer, engineer, drummer, singer, bassist, guitarist and keyboardist extraordinaire. In 2015, Bagale put out 30 tracks for free, under the name Otis McDonald. Released as copyright free music, exclusively through the YouTube audio library, these tracks have been downloaded over 5 million times, streamed over 10 million times and already have appeared in millions of YouTube creators’ videos. Turning the accepted system of releasing music on its head, his willingness to share his music with the world has turned his music into one of the phenomena of the internet.
Watch ‘Little Bit Longer’ – BELOW:
With a sound that is fresh but tangibly rooted in nostalgia, there is a heavy dose of the psychedelic soul of Shuggie Otis and a healthy slug of Michael McDonald – just in case you wondered how Joe came up with his stage name. At any given moment this gives way to the funk of the 70s…or perhaps it’s the dayglo pop radio of the 80’s or the boom-bap beats of the 90s. Whatever it means to you, Otis McDonald is the sound of an artist who manifests a lesson in versatility and growing perspective.
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