The state of music marketing in Nigeria: So expensive, yet little return

For the past few years, music marketing has been at an all-time high in Nigeria. The popularity of social media and the growth of streaming platforms have combined to give Nigerian pop music a global push.

This international attention attracted investments that boosted funding across the industry. With more money came more artists, all servicing the same platforms and competing for the same demographic.

Marketing soon became a matter of who could spend the most money to create the biggest buzz. While creativity remains important, the chase for instant virality is replacing careful, deliberate planning.

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Today, huge funds are funneled into social media campaigns, with influencers commanding record fees. Radio and TV amplification is also costly, and music videos now exceed 20 million naira.

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Yet results rarely match the investment. Audiences are showing apathy, while artists increasingly resort to controversy on social media as a shortcut to attention.

Why is music marketing becoming more expensive yet yielding little return?

Saturation is a major factor. A growing list of artists compete for the same audience, overwhelming listeners with endless content.

"Musicians, brands, influencers, and businesses are all competing for the same level of attention. Considering there's a lot of music coming out daily, the market is saturated, and materials get lost in the noise," says Dunsin Bankole, Head of Operations for the 360 creative company We Talk Sound.

"Consumers are spoilt for choice. There's just too much music and too many artists to choose from, so many consumers are overwhelmed," Music and Marketing Executive Honour Aghedo shares.

The market isn’t expanding fast enough to match the growing supply, creating fatigue and disinterest even in heavily marketed songs.

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Today, artists are getting the audience's attention faster through rage-baiting posts and controversial content. The instant impact of controversy in sparking conversation has made it a part of music marketing, and for some artists, a central part of their plan.

Culture Journalist with Zikoko Marv Tomide, shares that Nigerian artists are infatuated with online controversy, which births viral moments, and this has created a market where more creative and deliberate marketing ideas have been suppressed.

"This is not the problem of professionals who will execute, but largely the artists themselves failing to aspire to certain levels of ideas. The infatuation with controversy, social wins, and viral moments still trumps organic, albeit slow but steady and effective, methods."

PR Executive David Adeyemi describes the linear marketing approach to the Nigerian music industry as a complex one-room apartment.

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"The Nigerian music industry is a complex one-room apartment where, as a marketer, you’re working on several campaigns simultaneously, but you’re having to engage with the same set of people. I find that exhausting, boring, and too linear."

Honour Aghedo thinks that deploying similar platforms isn't the issue, but rather the approach being used in marketing the product.

The use of a similar strategy in marketing has also created what Dunsin Bankole refers to as a declining trust in influencer marketing.

"The audience can now tell when an influencer is paid to post, and it's affecting how marketing campaigns convert."

With the formula being replicated for quick wins, consumers are becoming more resistant to these marketing strategies that are expensive yet unproductive.

Paying an influencer to share a controversial post, curate viral content, or dance to a song can offer quick returns with huge engagement numbers to back it up.

However, this doesn't convert to success for the artists and their works, both in the mid and long term.

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"Artists are focused on numbers and engagement-based marketing rather than on storytelling and building connections because that's what lasts longer," Music Executive and Creative Entrepreneur Olamide Ademeso shares on the prioritization of numbers-focused marketing over more engaging options.

This focus on numbers-driven marketing, especially in social media engagement, has created a market where the power to lead conversation and create a bridge between the artists and the audience has been handed over to influencers who deploy controversy to drive engagement.

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David Adeyemi shares his reservations about these influencers who use controversy as a marketing tool.

"The level of importance we’ve given to these guys has damaged the market beyond what can be controlled, especially with trolling as a promotional tool."

Even visual branding that should be artistically driven is fast becoming a vanity metric, with some artists focusing on its aesthetic elements rather than telling a story and building a personality.

"Branding is becoming a vanity metric for some people. You can see through it because it's not done in a way that aligns with the artist's personality," Olamide Ademeso shares on the absence of depth in branding.

With artistic depth and human connection being sacrificed for numbers-driven marketing, the industry continues to funnel money into a model that's yielding little result.

With the high cost of marketing, resources should be maximised to get the best possible outcome, which is to attract listeners who will become fans.

To do this, Dunsin Bankole advises that it's good to engage the audience at a human and intimate level rather than with the mindset of just selling them a product.

"The focus should be on knowing your audience rather than having the mindset of marketing to an audience. You need to give them a rich experience that will make them connect with you."

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David Adeyemi also shares the need to pursue an emotional connection with the audience.

"An effective strategy would strip the bulk campaign to the least detail, creating an emotional connection with the exact persona that is being targeted."

Honour Aghedo advises that offline activations and connecting with fans are effective ways to market a product rather than focusing solely on online engagement.

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"The cost of breaking out is more expensive than ever. You can do everything right, and the artist won't blow up."

Honour Aghedo's words is a sober reminder that sometimes, even the right marketing might not deliver the desired result. However, it helps build an industry where artists are promoting and marketing their art through a similar artistic mindset and integrity with which it was created.