Jamal Edwards: Media Mogul in the Making

It has taken just five years for young entrepreneur Jamal Edwards to take his enterprise from his bedroom to the boardroom.

The 20-year-old is the founder and CEO of SBTV, billed as the UK’s biggest youth media channel.

SBTV, the name which was inspired by Edward’s moniker as ‘Smokey Barz’, is recognised as the country’s leading youth broadcaster on YouTube having received 70 million hits and has helped advanced the careers of artists including Devlin and Ed Sheeran.

Edwards’ venture was featured in an advert for Google Chrome, aired on mainstream TV during the new season of X-Factor. The 90-second ad shows the rise of Edwards’ career and the growth of SBTV. We see how this teenager from West London used the web and social media sites to turn his passion for filming into a career.

And it all began in 2007 when he was given a camcorder for Christmas aged 15. He began filming UK grime artists freestyling in car parks and on the street. After posting these videos on YouTube and receiving a respectable amount of views, Edwards used this as an opportunity to take his work further.

He saw there was a gap in the market and used this to bring young consumers a platform of which they can also take part in, forming SBTV in 2008. Edwards has since pushed SBTV to grow into a company with seven employees and attracted audiences from all over the world.

SBTV has progressed phenomenally and is said to be an inspiration to many young people. Edwards started in just one area and branched out, now making his work worldwide.

Edwards has recently become New Era Cap Company’s newest flagbearer releasing his own New Era SBTV hats. He has also signed a label deal with Sony RCA making him the CEO of his own record label, Just Jam Records. Of late, he has signed the first artist to his label, Masxta, a grime MC from East London.

By employing people to work with him on SBTV and signing young talent to his label, Edwards is opening doors for many young people and giving them the opportunity to take part.

Edwards was listed in the ‘Top 15 young UK entrepreneurs watch list for 2011’ by ‘YHP’, a UK based leading platform which promotes young entrepreneurs and earlier this year was voted the winner of the Virgin Media Pioneers competition, which gave him an opportunity to meet Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson.
Edwards has inspired many young people as they have seen him grow from working with local artists to well known international acts. In doing this, SBTV has also made international acts aware of many UK artists and is a truly influential role model.

Shanice Louis

Picture: Jamal Edwards