Nigerian musicians are making millions from streaming platforms - Entertainment Lawyer

Nigeria's Afrobeat music industry seems to be the new wave globally. Today, several Nigerian artists are on major music charts worldwide, including Billboard and World Music.

As a result of the impact of Afrobeat, top American and European musicians are now, more than ever, open to collaborations with Nigerian musicians and are even trying out the Afrobeat percussions in their music.

Not only have Nigerian musicians gained global recognition and hosted sold-out concerts, but their current popularity has also earned them millions of streams across different streaming platforms, thanks to a fast-growing fanbase.

Revealing how Nigerian musicians make millions of Naira from streaming platforms, Ugochukwu Nweke, an entertainment lawyer and music connoisseur, spoke with Legit.ng.

Nweke, who has been active in the entertainment industry for nearly two decades, traced how music consumption has evolved in the last few decades and the shift from analogue to different phases of digitalisation.

He said: Those born well before the 1990s will remember vinyl records and cassette players, and then came CDs and DVDs, the era when music marketers in the Alaba International market were the go-to guys.

With the new millennium came the MP3 players, a favorite of many young people. It allowed users to carry their music wherever they went.

However, most of the above means of accessing music have gone out of fashion and music consumers now rely on music streaming platforms, including Tidal, Deezer, Apple, Audiomack, Boomplay, Spotify, Amazon, Soundcloud, YouTube Music, and others.

One of the significant advantages of streaming platforms is the availability of a variety of different genres of music from local and international musicians. Some streaming platforms allow users to listen for free, while others allow free downloads. Most others require paid subscriptions for premium music.

Nweke said streaming platforms devote a percentage of their revenue to paying artistes' royalties.

He explained that the two major ways streaming platforms generate revenue are subscriptions from users and adverts that advertisers pay for to appear on the platforms. Interestingly, different streaming platforms offer different rates.

The popularity of the artiste and the region they are from are considered.

The entertainment lawyer, however, advises musicians to get on a label or work with a music distributor that would help facilitate the contract with the streaming service on their behalf.

His words; "Depending on the contract and the streaming platform, a musician can earn as much as $6000 (approximately N2.7 million) for every 1 million streams.

This is the average revenue raised from just one streaming platform. Some musicians have their music streaming from as many as eight different platforms."

Even though the rate changes by period and country, a musician whose music is enjoying some popularity will reap the benefits of streaming royalties.

Except when music consumers stumble on good music or artists while on streaming platforms, they mostly listen to their favourites, mainly the famous guys. The simple mathematics in streaming earnings is the more streams, the more money a musician makes.

This begs the question, what must a budding musician do to get more streams?

Nweke advised: "Earnings from streams strongly depend on the number of streams. Even though some people engage in expensive marketing schemes and purchase fake plays with streaming farms, what an artiste can do to grow streams organically is to market themselves, post music on social media platforms and patronise playlist curators.

"They can also release new music more consistently, but most importantly, make sure their music is good enough. If they are consistent in doing some of the aforementioned, they are sure of being on the right track to getting more streams."

It is noteworthy that a musician who is popular or whose music is generating massive airplay will only be able to make money from multiple sources if they are making the right moves. In that light, Nweke stated that, unlike other professions, musicians can earn income from several sources.

"Typically, musicians earn from physical album sales, airplay royalties and performing at shows. The smarter guys are, in addition, exploring other sources, including merchandise sales, brand endorsement, social media postings, etc.

"This is not only applicable to the likes of Davido, Tiwa Savage, Wizkid and Burna Boy, who have already gone global. Newer musicians like Seyi Vibes, Asake, Spyro, BNXN and Joeboy are also tapping into these sources.

"So when you see our musicians buying new cars, houses and luxury items, you can rest assured that they are not doing scams but living off their earnings from music streaming and other sources of revenue."

Nigerian musicians are experiencing a significant surge in streaming income on platforms like Spotify, thanks to the growing popularity of Afrobeats and Nigerian music worldwide.

According to Legit.ng, the surge has also opened new revenue streams for artists and is transforming the music industry in Nigeria.

One notable example is the award-winning musician Wizkid who is now officially the most streamed artist on Spotify.