West African musicians have become stars in recent years as the fusions from the Afrobeats movement made for big label signings. But the surge of interest has made it tougher for aspiring artists to break through
‘There’s never been a greater time to be a Nigerian artist’: but have the new giants of African music shut the door behind them?
Fuelling these successes, far removed from the razzmatazz of the big stages, is the recent entry of the world’s biggest music companies into Nigeria. Since 2017, Lagos has become a global music powerhouse, as Sony Music, Warner Music, Universal Music Group and others compete for talent, market share and profits.
Much like Seattle’s grunge scene in the 1990s, Afrobeats is locally understood as a broad movement more than a single genre, and the term has become a descriptor for fusing Nigerian sounds such as fújì, apala and highlife with an international flavour. On the surface, it seems all one needs is a mic, talent and a dream. Advancements in technology and the rise of social media offered to democratise the creative process and provide a seamless distribution of songs, with streaming platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify now available worldwide.
“The prices can only go up. There’s no going down for this,” says Lucas Jay Emodi, whose company, Speed Plug Promotions, offers marketing for the major labels in Lagos. Music might have a mass appeal, but it has become a rich man’s game. Nigeria has an average of two breakthrough artists a year – a trend that has persisted for the last decade. Midway through 2024, the country is struggling to break new musicians. Emerging Nigerian artists release nearly a hundred records a week on Spotify. None have become big hits in 2024. With fewer artists being seeded at the highest levels, the scene appears to have reached saturation point.
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