The gains and losses of the dispute between Carter Efe & Berri Tiga

The Making of a Hit Song: Hit singles come in different forms and manners. It can be inspired by the quality of the song or the profile of the artist. Sometimes, it's inspired by a wide acceptance propelled by inexplicable factors. Other times, a hit can be delivered by deploying considerable resources across board.

For Carter Efe and Berri Tiga's 'Machala', it was a hit delivered by a combination of factors. The mega profile of Wizkid who is the song's subject matter, the key support from Wizkid FC, the creative and indefatigable promotions of Carter Efe, and most importantly, the writing and delivery of Berry Tiga.

Preparing for success: While Carter and Berri have the making of a hit on their hands and they, in fact, successfully managed to execute key requirements necessary to score a hit, they were sadly not prepared for the aftermath.

Greed is one of the results of success albeit an undesirable and dangerous one and as 'Machala' soared on the charts and the streets, this deadly sin reared its ugly head.

It's very likely that the creative process was all hugs and kisses and the weeks that followed its release delivered endorphins that come with the wide acceptance of their art. By all intents and purposes, Carter and Berri achieved what they set out to achieve. However, they were not truly prepared for success and when the success became palpable and the money started flowing in especially from shows, disagreements started.

The business part of music is one that must be tidied before everything else and the failure to do this meant that both parties had to fight for what they felt was due to them based on what they considered the value of their respective contributions.

Carter whose resources and brand gave the song the shot at being a hit felt entitled to a bigger part of the largesse and Berri claimed he was offered a 100,000 naira payout in what can be considered an insight into Carter's mindset.

Berri whose talent brought the song into existence and without whom there would be no song felt entitled to more and understandably so.

The removal of the song from streaming platforms, emotional outbursts, and finger-pointing that followed is all a result of the inability to tidy the business end.

Their inability to carefully discuss the terms of their collaboration and reduce it into a contract that will be signed, sealed, and delivered is a display of inexperience and a thorough indictment of their management assuming they have any.

Now to the gains and losses from this dispute.

Gains: It's commonly said that "Bad publicity is still publicity" and this is true.

Carter Efe: Carter is a social media influencer who understands the news the disagreement generated from this dispute will further grow his profile and make his name and brand more identifiable in the public space.

He has already shown his ability to market a song with 'Machala' and this dispute might be a springboard for him to go again.

Berri Tiga: Before 'Machala', Berri was a rather unknown artist and the song's success brought him overnight success and attention.

The dispute that followed which saw some artists including Fave and Blaqbonez take his side shows that he has been able to gain attention and become a bigger artist than he was before the song.

For context, his Twitter account was verified just days ago while in the midst of this dispute.

The public sympathy he has gotten from dispute can also help him acquire sizeable followership whose patronage he will be hoping on as he is set to release a new song.

Blaqbonez: The rapper weighed in on the issue between Carter and Berri and this led to a war of words between him and Carter who felt Blaqbonez was being unfair.

While the Twitter spat was ugly and unnecessary, Blaqbonez is set to drop an album and he could use the publicity.

A Google trend of the three artists over the past three days shows a rise in search activities for all three artists.

Google Trend for Carter Efe, Berri Tiga, and Blaqbonez over the past 3 days Pulse Nigeria

Losses: 'Machala' is a good song that was enjoying a massive run that was unceremoniously cut short by the dispute.

The single debuted at number 2 on TurnTable Nigeria Top 100 and Apple Music Nigerian Top 100.

The dispute and subsequent removal of the song from DSPs would have invariably led to a loss of money from both streaming and performance for both parties.

Goodwill: It's important to note that whatever 'Machala' achieved, it was largely due to Wizkid's profile and the massive support of his fans.

The inability of Carter and Berri to get their affairs in order brought their collaboration to disrepute. It has understandably also drawn the displeasure of Wizkid's fans who will rather their favourite be not drawn into such a mess.

It's very likely that Carter and Berri might have successfully squandered whatever goodwill Wizkid, his fans, and some persons might have towards them.

End Result: At any rate, 'Machala' is back on streaming platforms and both parties seem to be trying to move past the dispute. It's, however, left to be seen how the inanity of the dispute would impact the song across board. The coming weeks will be telling.