Mathew Knowles Breaks Down Business Strategy To BLACK ENTERPRISE Mag Behind Split With Beyonce

Mathew Knowles, the CEO of Music World Entertainment, talked business strategy to Black Enterprise magazine.  And surprisingly, he sees the Beyonce split as being good for both her and for his company, which will now focus on gospel music.  What Pappy Knowles had to say inside...

As he helped nurture the rise and rise of both Destiny's Child and his daughter, Beyonce, Mathew Knowles has stamped his name in ink when it comes to music's legendary managers.  And though the highly publicized split with his daughter seemed to come out of nowhere, Mr. Knowles sat down with Black Enterprise to discuss the strategy of letting Beyonce go and expanding his empire.
Here are some highlights from the interview:

After 20 years working as a successful team, you and your No. 1 artist—daughter Beyonce—decided to part ways. As her father and manager; will not having her under your wings be a difficult transition for you?

Interesting enough the transition started way before the official announcement. If you’re strategic, which we are, you don’t make a decision like that before you start dialogue. That dialogue started nine months ago. At the end of the day, I’m Beyonce’s father first and her manager second. Remember, this is 20 years I’ve been doing this. She’s almost 30 years old and if she says, "I want to run my business," I think she’s smart enough that she will get the right team. Beyonce is smart enough to know what she knows and what she doesn’t know, and that takes an even smarter person to admit that. And she knows she can call me anytime. It takes a lot of hours and a lot of staff to run the business of Beyonce. (Laughs)

You’ve set the blueprint for R&B girl-groups with Destiny’s Child and R&B/pop phenoms with Beyonce, yet you’ve expressed interest in solely focusing on gospel/inspirational music. Why have you chosen to ditch secular music?

First of all, I never use the word “secular” because I believe there are just different genres of music. The reason I chose to focus on faith-based and inspirational music is because of the message and hope and it gives people. Folks, especially young people today, want hope. [Music World’s] goal is to get that message across for the masses. There’s tremendous growth potential for the faith-based inspirational community in digital, production, branding, endorsements and merchandising. I believe we can share 20 years of knowledge and successes to make that happen.

How has Beyonce’s departure affected Music World’s momentum and relevance?

To give that comparison, I evaluate my email activity, which has gone up 100 emails today. Now I’m really focused and I have activated myself in such a way to embrace new opportunities. I’m so grateful and blessed to have had so many successes. I pinch myself sometimes to think of this country boy who has accomplished so much from my career at Xerox to be the No. 1 sales rep, have talented daughters and a wife, the creation of Destiny’s Child, a No. 1 female artist. And I don’t know if folks know this but of all the artists in the world in a decade, Destiny’s Child and Beyonce are on that Top 10 list. I’ve achieved and accomplished more that I could have ever dream.
So after achieving Music World domination—literally and figuratively, what’s next?
(Laughs) One of the things this [decision] has allowed me to do is reduce my overhead and now personally focus on our gospel/inspirational label and to take some days off and some more relaxing time. For the last 20 years I’ve worked quite a bit and even more importantly I can look at other opportunities. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day we land another A-list R&B client or Destiny’s Child (that we still manage) goes on tour or puts out a commemorative box set that includes everything about them that their lifelong fans want.

Great interview with Mathew.  Your thoughts on the split?