In this article, I am going to show you how to make a career as an upcoming artist in the Nigerian music industry.
It is no denying the fact that the Nigerian music industry has grown so big over the years.
Being born in the early eighties, I have grown to witness the growth of the Nigerian music industry.
During my days of trying to venture into the Nigerian music industry, it was Western music that dominated Nigeria.
Since rap was my preferred genre, I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to purchase tapes of new releases by the rappers who were hot then.
I personally took Tupac Shakur as my role model, and there were none of his new releases that I missed.
But looking over the years now, we can bear witness to the fact that the Nigerian music industry has grown so tremendously.
Lots of Nigerian musicians have sold out shows in foreign countries. Recently, Davido sold out at the 02 Arena while Burna Boy sold out at the Madison Square Garden.
Let’s not even talk about the international features or collaborations between Nigerian and foreign musicians.
This, therefore, has made pursuing a career in the Nigerian music industry worthwhile.
Back in our day parents would not allow their children to pursue music as a career because musicians were not well-to-do.
But today I think there are no parents that will lose the opportunity of supporting their children to make it into the limelight of the Nigerian music industry.
Now let us look at how you can make a career as an artist in the Nigerian music industry.
Can you make a career as an upcoming artist in the Nigerian music industry?
Yes! It is very possible to make a career as an artist in the Nigerian music industry, but before you attempt to do so, here are some guidelines you need to follow.
- Develop and improve your musical skills.
- Build your brand.
- Go with what’s trending at the moment.
- Make good music.
- Promote your music.
- Reach out to industry top shots.
- Grow a fanbase.
1. Develop and improve your musical skills.
It is your musical talent that will pave way for you in the Nigerian music industry.
But then, you just don’t have to rely on that rough talent, instead, you should try to develop and improve it.
Below are some of the things you can do to help you develop and improve your musical skills.
- Undergo voice training.
- Learn how to compose music.
- Learn to play any or multiple musical instruments.
- You can even learn how to produce music.
This skill is going to help you stand out easily and get noticed as an artist in the Nigerian music industry.
2. Build your brand.
Every musical artist must have a name that people will identify them by.
Think of a business firm or company that is very popular, it does so because it has a brand that people identify with.
Some artists have become very popular using their birth names. It all depends on how memorable your name is.
In other words, how easy it will be for people to pronounce.
Aside from your name as a brand, you can incorporate so many things to make your name stand out, and in so doing showcase your brand in the best way.
Some of the things you can do are:
- Get a hairstyle.
- Come up with a style of dressing.
- The coin is popular saying you can use as an intro and outro in all your songs.
- You can even have a unique name for your fanbase. For example, Naira Marley fans are known as Marlians, and Davido’s as the 30BG gang.
3. Go with what’s trending at the moment.
If you look around, you will discover that all the A-List artist seems to flow with a particular style at a particular time.
For instance, all the current songs seem to have a duration of 2 mins, and if you want to have a successful career don’t want to go against this trend by recording a song that’s longer.
For this reason, you must always watch out for what every artist in Nigeria seems to be doing and incorporate that into yours.
4. Make good music.
Until your music meets the standard of the established artists in Nigeria, you will never be able to achieve success in the Nigerian music industry.
To have quality production for your music, I always like to advise upcoming artists to record their music with a popular music producer.
This is because that producer already has the needed experience of what kind of music is selling at the moment.
Whatever adjustments have to be made in your music composition, the producer is going to do that.
At the end of it all, you will leave the studio with music that will be pleasing to the ears of music lovers.
5. Promote your music.
What’s the point of making good music if people are not listening to it?
As a matter of fact, this is the most important aspect of the music business.
Music promotion is the process of making your music available in several mediums for music consumers.
The 2 ways you can promote your music are online and offline.
Online music promotion involves making your music available on the internet for digital downloads or streaming.
While offline music promotion involves making your music available in the physical format for people to consume.
6. Reach out to the music industry’s top shots.
Reaching out to the top shots in the music industry is what we refer to as networking.
I always like to mention that when it comes to the music business in Nigeria, man-know-man really matters a lot.
That is to say, you must be connected to people in the music industry before you can get any attention or recognition.
To reach out to these top shots, you need to access their social media accounts and send DMs.
Have them review your music and request for them to help you make it go viral.
There are those who are going to play God when you approach them. Bone these kinds and move along with those who feel you.
7. Grow your fanbase.
You must not allow people to just listen to or download your music and walk away.
One of the things that will prove you have a career in the music industry is having those who are always ready to consume your music whenever it drops in any format.
This is what we refer to as a fanbase.
There are ways and strategies you can employ to grow your fanbase. The most important part of it all is to create content consistently to keep your fans engaged.
Good luck!
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