Does money guarantee success in Nigerian music?

The Nigerian music industry has seen its fair share of Rich kids with access to resources, which is generally expected to give them an easier path to success.

At a time when music marketing is at an all-time high, having access to an unlimited family war chest allows these Nepo Babies (Rich kids) to aggressively market their art and buy their way through the industry, such that they are inescapable. At least, that’s what many people expect

Davido is often used as an example of a privileged musician who had all the resources to achieve commercial success as a musician.

However, the hitmaker is not the only rich kid to have ventured into music in Nigeria. Why then are other children of wealthy individuals not as successful as Davido?

So let’s break this down: Is being a Nepo Baby (Rich kid) in Nigerian music a fast road to success? Or is it just another privilege that doesn’t guarantee success?

What Determines Success in Nigerian Music

Success means different things to different musicians and creatives.

For this article, we will define success as gaining the patronage of a mass audience, which helps an artist to achieve fame and also earn a comfortable living from music.

For success, a musician requires convincing talent, resources to market the music, hard work and consistency, and an element of luck.

Convincing Talent

To be a successful artist, convincing talent is non-negotiable. The quality of the music must meet a standard that sonically appeals to listeners and helps the artist to stand out.

Although talent differs according to gifts and commitment to development, to gain success, a musician must possess the creativity and dynamism required to make good music appeal to a large audience.

Marketing Resources

Visibility is a big step between having a good song and success. To gain mass visibility, a musician must have the means to deploy all forms of digital and social media channels to get their music to a mass audience.

Today, the advent of social media and the digitalisation of music consumption have created a saturated market where the price for visibility and virality doesn’t come cheap.

Record Labels and Musicians are spending tens of millions in marketing to get mass attention that can be converted to streams, fans, and success.

Hard work and Consistency

Success requires a lot of hard work and consistency. Behind most musicians’ first big break is years of consistent hard work in making music and improving their craft.

Even after gaining success, remaining at the top requires more hard work to deliver top-notch music, stay creative, and evolve with the times.  

Luck

As the saying goes, luck comes when hard work meets preparation.

With luck, one only needs to be prepared to take full advantage of this when the universe finally aligns in their favour.

Luck is a song that randomly blew up on TikTok and gained global success years after its release. Luck is a random label boss or financier scrolling through social media and hearing a song from an emerging artist and deciding to put resources behind it.

Even when proven talent is met with hard work and supported by marketing, a musician still needs the element of luck for the market to favourably receive the song.