How Yungblud Turns Fans into a Business

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0:00It's all about finding people through the virtual world and bringing them into the real one.

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

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

0:16He's toured the world and won awards, but he's not settled on success in music alone.

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

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

0:35His entrepreneurial mindset.

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

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

0:42And the highs.

0:44This was the vision. This is the dream man. This is it.

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

0:49I'm so grateful for failure. You've got to enjoy

0:51that kick in the stomach or this job ain't for you.

0:55CNBC Meets: Yungblud.

1:04I'm Tania Bryer and I'm on my way to meet rock star, Yungblud, real name Dominic or Dom Harrison,

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

1:17and launch a string of business ventures, including his own music festival, Bludfest,

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

1:30A year after launching the label online, he's opened this bricks

1:34and mortar store at a time when most retailers are doing the opposite.

1:40I've always loved clothes. They allowed me to talk without opening my mouth. I always loved

1:46trying on new things. I always loved how they would make me feel, how they would make me walk

1:50and really amplify what I wanted to represent. So a clothing line for me was always like inevitable.

1:56You have chosen to open the store downstairs in an increasingly digital world

2:01Yes.

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

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

2:11the 20 million people that are in this community now is a physical adventure,

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

2:22I think the internet is such a beautiful place because it allows you to find what

2:26you like very quickly, but it can also dilute your opinion of anything at all,

2:32you know what I mean, there's too much option. So, I think kind of like if

2:36people catch a one eye glimpse into this community and want to try something out,

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

2:45You get to taste the beer, you get to wear the garment, you get to listen to the music. It's

2:49all about finding people through a virtual world and bringing them into the real one.

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

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

3:07are real people. To launch this new store he's invited his fans to an all-day party,

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

3:17You ok?

3:17I’m good, I’m good, I’m good.

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

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

3:24Hi guys, how are you doing?

3:28What does this mean to you? This is amazing.

3:31This is the dream man, this is it. This is exactly what I wanted to do. Hi, how are you?

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

3:40This is what you’ve built up.

3:41People want somewhere to belong. How you doing dude, you all right?

3:44I'll be out in a minute! Hi guys how's it going?

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

3:49I love them. I mean I think every song I write, every piece of clothing I make,

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

3:56Nice to meet you love, nice to meet you. Have a great day, lots of love guys.

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

4:05I really remember for the first time, I turned up at a 100-capacity venue,

4:10and something clicked, because when you're a new artist, and kind of I remember,

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

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

4:25was outside in makeshift clothing. It was the first moment I realized that this isn't

4:29about me. This is about something I might have said in a song that sparks an idea to

4:35150 people outside this place, and why not involve them in making this thing bigger?

4:47Thank you so much for coming out. This is honestly a dream come true. I love you all.

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

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

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

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

5:09I was trying to get signed everywhere, and we were big in the Netherlands, and someone in America,

5:16a guy called Grant Owens, heard me on Dutch radio, and he ran a tastemaker station in

5:23LA called We Found New Music. And he goes, I'd love for you to come and play my showcase in LA.

5:31And two grand for a flight to LA, each with my band, with my management, could have bankrupt us,

5:39right? But we took the opportunity. We played the showcase with Grant Owens, and every single major

5:45record label was on the front row. And I really remember that was a pivotal moment. We could

5:50have been like, oh, I don't know, man, should we just spend everything we've got? And my vibe is,

5:57I'm a red or black kind of guy, and as long as you believe in yourself, bet on yourself every time.

6:02Dom signed a record deal in 2017. He then caught the attention of a wider audience

6:08thanks to his fresh take on rock music, as heard in debut single, King Charles.

6:20After a number of successful albums and tours, Dom attempted to disrupt

6:25the lucrative music festival market, launching lower cost event Bludfest in 2024.

6:31We did a thing

6:33Bludfest returned to the south of England in 2025 welcoming 25,000

6:39music fans. The 2026 event will take place in Czechia.

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

6:47I think in music, in any business, the biggest lie you are told is, well, that's just the way

6:53it is. And I think if you kind of abide by that's just the way it is, you will never be successful,

6:58because the way it is was an innovative idea once. And I think festivals were

7:04not representative of real people, the prices of music became inaccessible, and it made me furious.

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

7:14and the middle section there were 500 tickets, and there were 2000 kids trying to get in outside,

7:19and 500 seats free. And it made me sick, because I had no control over that.

7:23My people can't come to my show because somebody else is dictating my ticket

7:27price. What? You know what I'm saying? And I couldn't stand behind it and go,

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

7:34That's the relationship that I have with my fan base. I will not make any money off the music,

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

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

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

7:48Can that accessibility keep it financially sustainable?

7:53Yeah, because I think my vibe is I don't see Yungblud as there's 10 different arms of a

7:59business. I see Yungblud as one pot, right? People aren't listening to music, this doesn't happen. My

8:06vibe would be like, okay, this bit can lose money because this bit's taking money, and this bit can

8:12lose money because this bit's taking money and this bit's taking a lot of money... So my vibe is,

8:16when I look at it like that, instead of everything having to either break even or be in the green,

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

8:24I have to pay my artists fairly. So I go, okay, cool. Well, these are going to cost this much,

8:28and this is going to cost this much, and I don't know, say tomorrow I get a massive band

8:33like Smashing Pumpkins on, I might have to go up a tenner, but at least I can communicate it.

8:39Trade Federation U.K. Music has cited four key commercial

8:44assets as economic drivers within the music industry: musical composition,

8:49or song writing, recorded music, live performance and brand and image.

8:57Dom is involved in all four of these areas and to maximize return on his brand and image,

9:04he's partnered with Firebird music to create YB Inc. that brings together his fashion brand,

9:10this new bricks and mortar store

9:12his music festival, Bludfest

9:15and any other future ventures.

9:18Best thing about YB Inc. is like being able to have investment like I made my

9:23own documentary myself. I made my own store myself. I want to do,

9:27I want to front the money for Bludfest so I don't have to go to a bigger corporation.

9:32I can be nimble, and I can lead with my idea, because no one wants to take risk in corporate

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

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

9:50this could have completely imploded. I put so much money into this, but it's all about the people.

9:55I know the people love it, build it and they will come. And I think what's amazing is like,

10:00when you get an investment like that, they genuinely believe in it, and the risk is on me.

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

10:09like yourself to also have business ventures?

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

10:15Artists and musicians, if you have a beautiful community, the possibilities are limitless. A

10:20lot of corporate structures and a lot of business people within music want to keep you from doing

10:25this. Put out music, tour a bit, and that's the structure. Happy, happy, happy, la-di-da.

10:31Whereas I'm like, alright, cool, that works a lot. Let's take all this and put it right

10:36there. And everyone's like, oh my God, we could lose everything. But that's the vibe,

10:39man. I want to ride this thing until the wheels fall off, and I want to have fun with it like,

10:43my vibe was never about being comfortable. When I'm comfortable, I'm bored. If you're

10:51enjoying the benefits of your success more than the ride, I think you're in the wrong business.

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

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

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

11:09my brain working all the time. I like to do three hours in the studio and be completely

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

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

11:22and it turns into kind of depression and all that vibe. So I'm literally,

11:26like, up at seven, I go boxing, and then I come to work, then I go to the studio late.

11:31It's mad, but I love it. It's just the way I do it. Luckily, my team love it too.

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

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

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

11:48This is where it all began, my old man's shop. You know what I mean?

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

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

12:00I really think I found a deep appreciation and understanding for music by everyone who I was

12:05in the shop with who taught me everything. Like I think kind of I was lucky to have a

12:10deep knowledge of rock music to be able to pull from. The thing about rock music is

12:14it doesn't give its crown up easily. Pop or rap, it gives its crown to whatever's

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

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

12:26No, absolutely not. I had a dream, and of course, I wanted this. But do you ever expect it to come

12:31true? No. And did it come true in the way that I thought it would? No, it was a lot different.

12:35It was a lot harder. You have to battle a lot more than you ever think you're gonna.

12:39With four studio albums and a string of businesses to his name. Dom has achieved great success,

12:46but I wanted to know how he navigates failure.

12:49You learn very little from success. Half of the time, you don't remember it. When

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

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

13:02We did that last time. So that's what went wrong there. That's what went wrong there.

13:07So then you can almost feed that into the art. I'm so grateful for failure. I fail 15 times a week,

13:12and I'll succeed maybe once a month, but as long as that success is learned from every

13:17time I've failed. You got to enjoy that like kick in the stomach or this job ain't for you.

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

13:30Many proudly clutching shopping bags proving that Yungblud is more than just a musician.

13:36Well, you have a hugely successful music career. Sell-out tours, clothing brand,

13:43now a physical venue right here in central London. What's next for Yungblud the entrepreneur?

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

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

14:05Always starts with music. That’s the truth.

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

14:11Thank you for coming, honestly.