How To Make Money Through Music

The entertainment industry is definitely a gold mine, musicians make a ton of money from airplay, performances, music downloads, caller back tones, endorsements and so on. But how they achieve this is no small fit especially in Nigeria where the music industry has no structure. One has to be very popular and in demand, In this piece i will try to break it down to easy step by step points on how to be popular and be in demand in order to make money through music in Nigeria and hopefully it can be applicable to anyone from other parts of the world.
Most Nigerian acts make the bulk of their money from the international market, foreigners pay more for performances, but to get that kind of business you must first conquer your vicinity. Your demand in Nigeria has to be very high for it to spill over to other countries.
The music business is just like any other business; you need capital, product or service (your music), a work plan and capable hands. If you think all you need do is have talent, think again, the entire country is full of talents; you should think of carving a niche for yourself and be ahead of others.
This is how you go about it:
First you must have the talent to sing and entertain, but talent is not enough you need to have capital to work with, before a record label can pick you up; they will need to see the signs of greatness in you first. So you have to showcase yourself somehow. It is better if you can devise a new way to do this rather than the usual, it will draw more attention to you. To do this you must look good, probably take music classes or get a voice coach, exercise, rehearse, make good music and so on. Whatever you do though, the music must be good even if you have to employ a whole army of veterans to achieve this.

You have to decide on what your brand or personality is, then you have to sing songs and dress yourself to portray that personality, for example Davido’s brand is “Omo Baba Olowo” (son of a rich man), so at all times he has to dress, sing and act like he has the whole money in the world, that’s why you see him change cars, buy gold chains worth millions and display it on instagram. He is showcasing his brand. If you cannot come up with a sellable brand between you and your team, get professional help.

Get a manager or a management team who will then work with you to structure your publicity/promotional campaign. As you promote your music, you ought to promote your personality as well through radio, television, print, internet and street (alaba)

You should not stop until you become popular, if one song isn’t working, try another one until your face and your song becomes known all over. Ensure you work with the right crew that understand your type of music AND THE environment you are in to achieve this.

Once your song starts getting popular, you will start to get calls for shows and appearances.

Do not stop, drop hit songs after hit songs, even if you have to drop it free of charge online so that a lot of people would have it. Nigerians don’t like to pay to buy or download songs they don’t know. Once you have become a household name, an album should follow.

At this point, you should ensure to start selling your music and making money through music downloads, online streaming and so on. You wouldn’t have to spend so much on promotion anymore, your fans will sort you out, shows will sort you out and you will definitely start earning big money.

Once your brand is big enough and brands see that you can influence a lot of people with your music and personality, endorsement is in sight but do not just sit and wait for it, in Nigeria everything is about connection (who you know), so you and your managers should network, seek out the big brands and their owners or backbones and market your brand to them. That shouldn’t be hard, if you are a star everyone will want to see you. This is the secret of Dbanj’s success today. He knows how to sell himself to brands and rich people.

Keep it new. Always look for new ways to thrill your fans. Do not be monotonous and ensure to flow with the times

Remember, it doesn’t last long, no matter how good you are, at some point you’ll give way, you cannot be at the top forever, (many artistes refuse to accept this fact) so while you make your money take your time to invest on other things that will generate more money for you. Use your brand to the fullest, there are a lot of things you can do with it. It’s a huge power to be able to command followership. Get good business managers to take advantage of it.

Follow these simple steps and you are sure on your way to stardom and riches if only you can ensure to get it done right!

Good luck. ff @smoothmedia1