Music in Nigeria is pretty tough but if you want to see the light and become famous you need to go beyond writing songs on an R&B beat or doing a rap song.
You might get some fans for yourself, and also make some money, but one thing you need to understand when doing music in Nigeria for Nigerians is to understand the Nigerian audience.
Knowing what sells in the Nigerian music industry gives you an edge to become successful in the very competitive music industry.
There are things you need to know before diving into music in Nigeria and start releasing singles or even albums that won’t make the needed wave.
Knowing these few factors will help you in your musical journey in Nigeria.
Knowing your audience
You need to know your audience and the kind of music they enjoy.
Having the knowledge that the country is sectioned into southern and northern Nigeria gives you a good understanding of who will be listening to your song.
The North which is mostly Muslim listen to Arabic and their indigenous music, though there is some part in the north that still listen to afrobeat and other genres, so if you are into genres like afrobeat, hip-hop, rock or R&B you will make it but you might not become successful are you desire.
The southern part of Nigeria is where are kinds of music genres are openly welcomed, there is always an audience for your song in southern Nigeria.
These people love enjoying life to the fullest and always prefer music that makes them dance.
The center of music in Niger is Lagos city, that’s why music artist from northern and southern Nigeria come to Lagos to do their music.
Contact a music producer
It might look silly, but in the Nigerian music industry, it’s very important to reach out to a music producer that can deliver a good job.
This should be a music producer that knows the Nigerian music industry, they must have done a hit song with a popular artist, a talented producer like Cmajor can do a commercial beat as he has worked with lots of top Nigerian artist.
The produce will do a beat that people can easily dance to and shake their body while you are the artist compose a song that flows with the best.
Write or compose your song
After a good beat, the next thing is to compose your song, the lyrics must be easy to sing along, and it’s also necessary to add some street slangs, just like Davido did with “Fem” or Patoranking did with Abule; these slangs capture the hearts of Nigerians and make them easily sing along with your song as they dance to the beat.
Recording, mixing, and mastering your song
Now that you have written a song, it’s time to record, mix, and master your song. Your music producer by default should be good in song recording but it’s possible that he is not professional enough to mix and master your song so, you must get someone who can properly mix and master your song before you put it out to the public.
Music marketing and artist branding
Artist branding is very important, it starts from the day you decided to become a musician.
Choosing a very catchy stage name is the first step of branding yourself as an artist.
Then get a website and social media handle where you can showcase your songs, photos, and stage performance.
The branding process might be stressful for you if you are just starting as a new artist because you will have to do everything yourself, but if you are financially stable then you can hire the services of a manager to assist you.
Marketing is the most important thing to always consider as an artist, you need to map out a strategy on how to market your song. This is where your manager comes into play.
He will be the one to get your radio interviews and also reach out to bloggers that can help you write good reviews about your song.
Your manager will book shows, and organize concerts, he or she can also make sure your song is placed on different music streaming platforms so that you can generate some income.
Conclusion
The Nigerian music industry is very competitive but if you follow these steps to create your song, then you will become successful in the industry, these steps can also be applied to any other countries music industry, all you need to understand the audience and what kind of music sells well in your local community and your country at large.
