Nigerian music and the decline of online media relevance

In 2010 when I first moved to the US for college, things were changing in the industry, and in Nigeria. As I remember, that was around the time when Nigeria started being integrated into the online society. Blackberry phones were hugely popular, and the other smart phones were fast picking up steam.

It was a bit hard for me to leave Nigeria, not in general, but musically. I'd been a huge fan of Nigerian music my whole life, even when my mates in high school thought Nigerian music was razz, I recited (and danced galala, albeit terribly) all the African China lyrics and was generally greatly influenced by "Ajegunle" music.

By 2008, I'd become a bit of a Nigerian music historian. I purchased every album and mix I could find and I did as much research as I could on the artists and the music. As you can imagine, I felt a huge musical disconnect when I had to leave for the US where, in my mind, there was no way to access Nigerian music.

Before I left Nigeria though, I'd saved Nigerian songs and videos on my YouTube page to keep myself connected and half-heartedly hoping that I would somehow be able to keep acquainting myself. I still remember 2 of the major songs on that playlist; Jaywon's "Filebe" and Jamix Ft. Terry G, 9ice and M.I. - Omo Naija (to this day these songs hold a special place in my heart).

Of course, I had a huge playlist on my my pangolo Nokiacamera phone at the time, but I could only update that playlist manually by downloading songs I already knew via likewire or other online sources. I then had to sync them with my phone (say no to iTunes/paid music, that year).

I was pleasantly surprised when I got to the US and my older cousin introduced me to this website called NotJustOk(still the biggest online music platform in Nigeria). NotJustOk was updated constantly with all the new hot tracks out of Nigeria and most importantly, back then, if an artist was featured, they were introduced to a ready and willing fan base of people like me who were just desperately ready to consume Nigerian music like our lives depended on it (at a point, NotJustOk sold albums, that's how integral they were to the industry).

It was like heaven to me, I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that I never closed out the NotJustOk tab on my browser for at least 2 years straight. Literally! The only time it was not open on my browser was on the rare occasion when my computer was off (most likely due to extreme usage or the need to install updates).

It's still not possible to fathom my elation when I got to my college dorm a few weeks after and met one of my closest friends who introduced me to Gidilounge. He was adamant that it was the best Nigerian music blog, but I was already a NotJustOk loyalist, and I could not change allegiance. Admittedly, Gidilounge had an audio player on their website that had all the latest hits and songs fans needed to hear, so they got huge points for that. (the audio player helped us out in many house parties over the years. If you know, you know!!).

Looking back now, that was such a genius addition to the platform and obviously the influence for all the Nigerian music playlist apps available now. Gidilounge was years ahead of the times with that audio player. Also, just like NotJustOk, if a song was featured on that playlist, the artists' popularity grew very rapidly. I personally consider both platforms as  the pioneers of online music in Nigeria. Both were HUGELY influential in the careers of artists that established themselves between 2010 and 2014. Their impact cannot be understated. They're a part of Nigerian music history.

That aside, their impact, along with that of the general Nigerian online media community has waned in recent times. I want to explore what I think is the issue behind the dip in relevance, especially as it regards to breaking new artists. I must first say that the industry is now harder than ever to break into, for more reasons than one; which plays a big part. In fact, that is an entirely different conversation.

Looking at the issue, some obvious answers come to mind. Money, lack of reciprocated respect from now established artists whose careers they helped build, brand stagnation, etc. All these answers, for me, are unfair and simplistic answers. Especially the issue of money. A business cannot be blamed for trying to improve their bottom line, and with the fact that money was/is being made from online media services by middle men anyway, there's no reason for the media platforms not to make money.

I do think that the online platforms could be more creative with their approach to money making though, but that is also a different conversation.

The real issue at the root of the problem the online media is facing in the music industry in Nigeria is content curation. Content Curation is defined as the process of gathering information relevant to a topic or area of interest. In Music, that just means the process of putting together music to be consumed. Just like what Gidilounge did all those years ago with their playlist and what NotJustOk does currently with their playlist. To better understand it even further, think of DJ mixes or the personal playlists you have on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Music.

You see, curation entails the careful selection of music based on a set of criteria; the set of criteria is open to personal or "professional" interpretation.

In the past, online media content was carefully curated, for the most part by people who were widely regarded as music experts based on their knowledge and experience.  Whether you agreed with their judgement or not, they had a system for music selection and as a result of that, they could stand behind the integrity of their content and were able to build a loyal following that grew to trust that judgement (much like the followers of popular playlists on Spotify, Apple Music and the rest are currently doing).

As it currently stands, there is no curation on most Nigerian online media platforms, I'd estimate that only about 10 percent of Nigerian platforms do any form of curation at all (from experience). This has not only affected the relevance of the platforms but has, in my opinion, ultimately affected the overall quality of Nigerian music.

I'd like to get your thoughts on this. Let's start a discussion, it will be beneficial for our industry in the end.

Written by Mayowa Balogun.

Mayowa Balogun is an Independent Record Label Exec and Talent Manager with BEAM Entertainment. In the past he has been a full-time blogger for NotJustOk. He has also managed tours/concerts and has promoted many events that showcase Nigerian music and culture worldwide. He is currently based in Canada but goes back and forth to Nigeria and the USA on a regular basis.

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