Rock Star Yungblud Is Building a New Kind of Business

0:00 It's all about finding people through the virtual

0:02 world and bringing them into the real one.

0:05 This is British musician Dom Harrison, better known as Yungblud.

0:12 His songs have been streamed more than 5.8 billion times.

0:16 He's toured the world and won awards,

0:20 but he's not settled on success in music alone.

0:26 Here on London's iconic Denmark Street, we discuss bold business moves.

0:31 I put so much money into this, and the risk is on me.

0:35 His entrepreneurial mindset.

0:37 We could have been like “should we just

0:39 give up?” and my vibe is believe in yourself, bet on yourself every time.

0:42 And the highs.

0:44 This was the vision.

0:44 This is the dream man.

0:45 This is it.

0:46 And the lows of life as a rock star.

0:49 I'm so grateful for failure.

0:50 You've got to enjoy that kick in the stomach or this job ain't for you.

0:55 CNBC Meets: Yungblud.

1:04 I'm Tania Bryer and I'm on my way to meet rock star,

1:09 Yungblud, real name Dominic or Dom Harrison,

1:11 who has leveraged his 23 million strong social media following

1:16 to extend his brand and launch a string of business ventures,

1:20 including his own music festival, Bludfest,

1:23 a beer and fashion label, Beautifully Romanticised Accidentally Traumatized.

1:30 A year after launching the label online,

1:33 he's opened this bricks and mortar store

1:36 at a time when most retailers are doing the opposite.

1:40 I've always loved clothes.

1:41 They allowed me to talk without opening my mouth.

1:45 I always loved trying on new things.

1:47 I always loved how they would make me feel,

1:49 how they would make me walk and really amplify what I wanted to represent.

1:53 So a clothing line for me was always like inevitable.

1:56 You have chosen to open the store

1:59 downstairs in an increasingly digital world Yes.

2:02 What can bricks and mortar offer to your brand?

2:05 I think the biggest thing I try and provide for the 20

2:11 million people that are in this community now is a physical adventure,

2:17 is a personal adventure, the opportunity to connect in real life.

2:22 I think the internet is such a beautiful place because

2:25 it allows you to find what you like very quickly,

2:28 but it can also dilute your opinion of anything at all,

2:32 you know what I mean, there's too much option.

2:34 So, I think kind of like if people catch a one

2:37 eye glimpse into this community and want to try something out,

2:41 you have a physical place to go, you can really decide if it's for you or not.

2:45 You get to taste the beer, you get to wear the garment,

2:47 you get to listen to the music.

2:49 It's all about finding people through a virtual

2:52 world and bringing them into the real one.

2:55 And bring them to the real world he has.

3:02 Dom has built a large and loyal fan base on social media,

3:06 but behind those accounts are real people.

3:09 To launch this new store he's invited his fans to an all-day party,

3:14 and thousands have turned out to meet him.

3:17 You ok?

3:17 I’m good, I’m good, I’m good.

3:19 It’s a vibe man, it’s a bit mad out here.

3:22 This is great– they've all come for you.

3:24 Hi guys, how are you doing?

3:28 What does this mean to you?

3:30 This is amazing.

3:31 This is the dream man, this is it.

3:33 This is exactly what I wanted to do.

3:36 Hi, how are you?

3:37 I mean this is it, this is the vision man, this is the community.

3:40 This is what you’ve built up.

3:41 People want somewhere to belong.

3:42 How you doing dude, you all right?

3:44 I'll be out in a minute!

3:46 Hi guys how's it going?

3:48 What do you want to say to them, how do you engage with them?

3:49 I love them.

3:50 I mean I think every song I write, every piece of clothing I make,

3:53 every time I open a space like this is to tell them I love them.

3:56 Nice to meet you love, nice to meet you.

3:58 Have a great day, lots of love guys.

4:00 When did you realize that you could grow your brand beyond music?

4:05 I really remember for the first time,

4:07 I turned up at a 100-capacity venue, and something clicked,

4:11 because when you're a new artist, and kind of I remember,

4:14 Instagram was starting to become the vehicle to find community.

4:19 I remember turning up outside the gig, and it was exactly the same as right now.

4:24 Everyone was outside in makeshift clothing.

4:26 It was the first moment I realized that this isn't about me.

4:30 This is about something I might have said in a song

4:34 that sparks an idea to 150 people outside this place,

4:39 and why not involve them in making this thing bigger?

4:47 Thank you so much for coming out.

4:50 This is honestly a dream come true.

4:53 I love you all.

4:55 Today Dom is one of the U.K.'s most prominent rock artists,

4:59 but it was overseas where he got his big break.

5:02 No one would sign me in the U.K., because grime and rap was king and rock was,

5:07 no one's signing rock, why would we sign rock?

5:09 I was trying to get signed everywhere,

5:12 and we were big in the Netherlands, and someone in America,

5:16 a guy called Grant Owens, heard me on Dutch radio,

5:20 and he ran a tastemaker station in LA called We Found New Music.

5:25 And he goes, I'd love for you to come and play my showcase in LA.

5:31 And two grand for a flight to LA,

5:34 each with my band, with my management, could have bankrupt us, right?

5:39 But we took the opportunity.

5:41 We played the showcase with Grant Owens,

5:43 and every single major record label was on the front row.

5:47 And I really remember that was a pivotal moment.

5:49 We could have been like, oh, I don't know,

5:53 man, should we just spend everything we've got?

5:56 And my vibe is, I'm a red or black kind of guy,

5:59 and as long as you believe in yourself, bet on yourself every time.

6:02 Dom signed a record deal in 2017.

6:05 He then caught the attention of a wider

6:07 audience thanks to his fresh take on rock music,

6:14 as heard in debut single, King Charles.

6:20 After a number of successful albums and tours,

6:23 Dom attempted to disrupt the lucrative music festival market,

6:28 launching lower cost event Bludfest in 2024.

6:31 We did a thing Bludfest returned to the south

6:35 of England in 2025 welcoming 25,000 music fans.

6:40 The 2026 event will take place in Czechia.

6:44 Bludfest was one of the biggest learning curves of my life.

6:47 I think in music, in any business,

6:49 the biggest lie you are told is, well, that's just the way it is.

6:53 And I think if you kind of abide by that's just the way it is,

6:57 you will never be successful, because the way it is was an innovative idea once.

7:02 And I think festivals were not representative of real people,

7:06 the prices of music became inaccessible, and it made me furious.

7:10 I was on tour in America, and tiered pricing,

7:12 the venue was full, and the middle section there were 500 tickets,

7:16 and there were 2000 kids trying to get in outside, and 500 seats free.

7:20 And it made me sick, because I had no control over that.

7:23 My people can't come to my show

7:25 because somebody else is dictating my ticket price.

7:27 What?

7:27 You know what I'm saying?

7:29 And I couldn't stand behind it and go,

7:32 right, this is what I believe this is worth.

7:34 That's the relationship that I have with my fan base.

7:36 I will not make any money off the music,

7:39 but I will bring 20,000 to 30,000 to 50,000 people into a field,

7:43 and then I will sell my merch, and I will sell my food,

7:45 and that's when it can be a profitable business that allows me to keep it going.

7:48 Can that accessibility keep it financially sustainable?

7:53 Yeah, because I think my vibe is I don't

7:56 see Yungblud as there's 10 different arms of a business.

7:59 I see Yungblud as one pot, right?

8:02 People aren't listening to music, this doesn't happen.

8:05 My vibe would be like, okay,

8:07 this bit can lose money because this bit's taking money,

8:10 and this bit can lose money because this bit's

8:13 taking money and this bit's taking a lot of money...

8:15 So my vibe is, when I look at it like that, instead

8:17 of everything having to either break even or be in the green,

8:20 then I can be a lot more nimble with how I choose to communicate with people.

8:24 I have to pay my artists fairly.

8:26 So I go, okay, cool.

8:27 Well, these are going to cost this much,

8:28 and this is going to cost this much, and I don't know,

8:31 say tomorrow I get a massive band like Smashing

8:34 Pumpkins on, I might have to go up a tenner, but at least I can communicate it.

8:39 Trade Federation U.K.

8:41 Music has cited four key commercial assets

8:44 as economic drivers within the music industry:

8:48 musical composition, or song writing, recorded music,

8:53 live performance and brand and image.

8:57 Dom is involved in all four of these areas

9:00 and to maximize return on his brand and image,

9:04 he's partnered with Firebird music to create YB Inc.

9:07 that brings together his fashion brand,

9:10 this new bricks and mortar store his music festival,

9:14 Bludfest and any other future ventures.

9:18 Best thing about YB Inc.

9:19 is like being able to have investment like I made my own documentary myself.

9:24 I made my own store myself.

9:26 I want to do, I want to front the money

9:29 for Bludfest so I don't have to go to a bigger corporation.

9:32 I can be nimble, and I can lead with my idea,

9:36 because no one wants to take risk in corporate business,

9:40 because you get fired, and if you get fired, you don't get another job.

9:45 Risk is the thing I get off on the most, it's the most exciting.

9:49 Every single thing like today, this could have completely imploded.

9:51 I put so much money into this, but it's all about the people.

9:55 I know the people love it, build it and they will come.

9:58 And I think what's amazing is like,

10:00 when you get an investment like that, they genuinely believe in it,

10:05 and the risk is on me.

10:07 How important do you think it is for other

10:09 musicians like yourself to also have business ventures?

10:12 I think it's exciting more than important.

10:15 Artists and musicians, if you have a beautiful community,

10:18 the possibilities are limitless.

10:19 A lot of corporate structures and a lot of business

10:22 people within music want to keep you from doing this.

10:25 Put out music, tour a bit, and that's the structure.

10:29 Happy, happy, happy, la-di-da.

10:31 Whereas I'm like, alright, cool, that works a lot.

10:33 Let's take all this and put it right there.

10:36 And everyone's like, oh my God, we could lose everything.

10:38 But that's the vibe, man.

10:39 I want to ride this thing until the wheels fall off,

10:41 and I want to have fun with it like, my vibe was never about being comfortable.

10:47 When I'm comfortable, I'm bored.

10:50 If you're enjoying the benefits of your success more than the ride,

10:54 I think you're in the wrong business.

10:56 How does your mindset shift and does it when you're in creative mode,

11:01 then going to business, does it change?

11:03 I think what's fun is for me, because I'm riddled with ADHD,

11:08 I need to keep my brain working all the time.

11:11 I like to do three hours in the studio and be completely creative.

11:14 Then I like to come in here and be completely bull in a china shop with my ADHD.

11:18 If I have leftover energy, it turns into anxiety,

11:22 and it turns into kind of depression and all that vibe.

11:25 So I'm literally, like, up at seven, I go boxing,

11:27 and then I come to work, then I go to the studio late.

11:31 It's mad, but I love it.

11:33 It's just the way I do it.

11:35 Luckily, my team love it too.

11:37 Dom's exposure to music goes back a long time.

11:41 Just doors down from his clothing store on Denmark Street,

11:45 he's brought me somewhere close to his heart.

11:48 This is where it all began, my old man's shop.

11:50 You know what I mean?

11:51 The famous Hanks guitar shop, is owned by Dom's father, Justin,

11:56 and it's where Dom used to work before making it as a musician.

12:00 I really think I found a deep appreciation and understanding for music

12:04 by everyone who I was in the shop with who taught me everything.

12:07 Like I think kind of I was lucky to have

12:10 a deep knowledge of rock music to be able to pull from.

12:13 The thing about rock music is it doesn't give its crown up easily.

12:17 Pop or rap, it gives its crown to whatever's biggest at the time.

12:20 With rock, you've got to love it, cherish it, understand it.

12:23 When you think back, could you ever have imagined something like this?

12:26 No, absolutely not.

12:26 I had a dream, and of course, I wanted this.

12:29 But do you ever expect it to come true?

12:31 No.

12:31 And did it come true in the way that I thought it would?

12:34 No, it was a lot different.

12:35 It was a lot harder.

12:36 You have to battle a lot more than you ever think you're gonna.

12:39 With four studio albums and a string of businesses to his name.

12:44 Dom has achieved great success, but I wanted to know how he navigates failure.

12:49 You learn very little from success.

12:51 Half of the time, you don't remember it.

12:53 When you get slapped, you get a scar, and I think that that scar will remain,

12:58 and it kind of makes the skin around where you got slapped a little bit harder.

13:02 We did that last time.

13:03 So that's what went wrong there.

13:05 That's what went wrong there.

13:07 So then you can almost feed that into the art.

13:09 I'm so grateful for failure.

13:11 I fail 15 times a week, and I'll succeed maybe once a month,

13:14 but as long as that success is learned from every time I've failed.

13:18 You got to enjoy that like kick in the stomach or this job ain't for you.

13:25 Here on Denmark Street, Dom's fans have turned out to see their hero.

13:30 Many proudly clutching shopping bags proving

13:32 that Yungblud is more than just a musician.

13:36 Well, you have a hugely successful music career.

13:41 Sell-out tours, clothing brand,

13:43 now a physical venue right here in central London.

13:46 What's next for Yungblud the entrepreneur?

13:50 I think my biggest goal now is to create Bludfest and make it a worldwide thing

13:55 and take these hubs and try and get them into every country all over the world,

14:03 and then more music.

14:05 Always starts with music.

14:06 That’s the truth.

14:08 Dominic, thank you so much for inviting me here to your office.

14:11 Thank you for coming, honestly.