God bless you op... Good musicians wait n feed us with good music... asa, Brymo, bez, darey, 2baba, Timi, nneka... olamide dey try sha.. all other artist Na club there songs dey end to me..


Pursue excellence, money will come...

abelthonie:

Scammer

How this one take concern me now

Maybe Davido finally realized sticking to the basics is better. U don't need to be on Def Jam or Sony to become known all over.

PabloOmoEscobar:
I pity Tekno



Blame their greedy managers

Are they not all in it for the money?...lol..If na you nko

Nicely written!!!

Nigeria music industry is just a hype. People keep commending how the music industry have grown, what they don't understand is that the Nigerian music scene has not grown, what improved is the technology we use in shooting music scene. Our music have no lyrical meaning and cannot be compartmentalised. That's all

JeffreyJamez:


Are they not all in it for the money?...lol..If na you nko

I understand they all are in it for money. But their are vital details included in contracts that should be expanded to clients by their managers which most managers hardly do cuz it's where the money lies

PabloOmoEscobar:
I understand they all are in it for money. But their are vital details included in contracts that should be expanded to clients by their managers which most managers hardly do cuz it's where the money lies

Most managers just skip to the money part of contract to know sharing ratio.

I gave one contract,he said "guy all this one na grammar show me where it talks of the sharing formula"...I just laugh he no know why,when time reach he go know what's up

Synord:


In the last one year, Nigeria music has gained a lot of acceptance from music lovers all around the world. Nigeria artists doing collabos and getting features from international acts like Drake, Tydollasign,rkelly to Foreign celebs jamming our songs like ojuelegba,pana etc and our artists signing " mouth watering " international music deals .


In the last two years,a lot of Nigerian artists signed deals with international record labels..Burna boy and Seyi shay signed with Universal music, Davido signed with Sony and RCA ,Ayo jay signed with RCA, wizkid and shizzi also alleged signed with Sony music , Ycee ,adey and mystro signed with Sony ATV and tiwa savage inked a deal with ROC nation ( To me, tiwa savage deal is the best international music deal any contemporary nigerian music artist has signed and I will discuss the reason) .

The Question now is " Is Sony music deals and other international record label deals the key to the much desired international recognition Nigerian artists crave ??

Dbanj signed a Deal with Good music in 2012 as the first African artist and subsequently a deal with Mercury records also..The only thing Dbanj achieved with good music was shouting ' oh oh " in one of their tracks ,getting kanye in a video and then a cameo in Mercy's video.

. Here was one of Africa's most respectes artiste Dbanj in one of the biggest label in the world at the time,Kanye's West Label and we all knew how did story ended.. Once the reign of Dbanj Hit single" Oliver twist was over , his contract was also over and dbanj was dropped from good music without an official statement from the Label.. Signing the deal under Good music was one of the wrong moves in Dbanj's career.

The only thing this foreign labels seek is to milk the hype and accolades surrounding an artiste with a succesful song so as to gain access to the African audience.. If not , why is Sony music and other intl labels not picking Timi dakolo, darey,asa and Bez bearing in mind that their music is much similar to what is obtained over there and they are far more talented ?? Of course they are known but they just wouldn't be picked..

Record labels are meant to discover and nurture unknown but very talented artistes to stardom( look at mavin,Ybnl) but alas, this Foreign labels are picking the biggest and hottest African artists to quickly use and dump , treating them like the upcoming acts they chose to be while the contracts lasts..

Anyone that thinks international deal is the key to international recognition has a wrong mindset..Fela anikulapo Kuti is the Most recognized African act and he signed no international deal..Angelique Kidjo won three Grammys,featured on Time,CNN ,Aljazeera,BBC and went platinum without any international deal....Sunny ade,Marian makemba and Even Asa are in fact known more internationally than some of this artists with international deals..

Of course we cannot compare the talent of this great musicians to our contemporary artists but I believe with Good music you can reach anywhere, deal or no deal..Wizkid had drake and chrisbrown on his songs before his Sony deal, Tuface was on BET and won MTV awards with no international deal..

It is pertinent to note that Once a deal is signed, Sony have control over the artist creative license and songs that make the artists project..I mean just look at Davido's Ep.. The label is now forcing americalized music on our artistes..They no longer have creative control over their own music..While I am not saying Good music should be done, trying to sound so much like something you not or not comfortable with never yields a good result.. photocopy go easy.This was something that happened to dbanj, trying to gain international reverence while losing home base acceptance forgetting that when u go all around the world, you will still return back home.

Even the songs they record are not allowed to be dropped at will?? How many tours have Sony organized for davido...?? How many interviews ??..

To me personally, Tiwa savage deal with Roc nation is the best deal ...Why is this ?? Because it is a managerial deal !!! The deal is basically like a promoter and artiste relationship. tiwa is still under Mavin and all ROC nation does is to promote anything tiwa releases under mavin records on their platform.. no control over music, release the type of songs she is comfortable with and ROC nation markets her to the international market as the original African artist she is.


All in all, it is high time Nigeria artistes know the dictates before going ahead to sign deals and not just merry over been picked up by foreign labels..Signing a record deal is not just shouting only African artist on Columbia records or saying Four million dollars deal in the pocket ?? , if you doubt ask Skales who was asked to pay over a billion naira to set aside his record deal with baseline..

I repeat , no artiste will last long with " dance tengere , whine it tengere, or dodo leleyi in an international record label.. Its better to stick to the Home base fans that lack the taste for song with good lyrics and meaning.. If u can't do good music, be ready to risk losing ur home made fans , Do more americanized music and waive originality aside plus wait months or years to drop ur projects, don't sign an international record deal..You can't eat your cake and have it .....


At this point ,my maximum respect goes to Olamide....Shey international recognition ni Mama ma je?? Sometimes it best to be a Lion in the jungle than be a dog in the city... if it comes , it comes as long as originality is there, music has no language.

At the end, Good music will always triumph !!!

Written By Iamsynord

Follow on twitter @iamsynord
Idsam600@gmail.com

God bless U for this write up. Nigerians never learn they say read Im sure when those contracts were given the artists didnt even get a lawyer to scrutinize it. They were so eager to show off their contracts

JeffreyJamez:


Are they not all in it for the money?...lol..If na you nko

Look U stand to gain more here in naija
Its only in naija that you can release an album and eat 100%of your sales. over ther if you see10% thank God. Plus those artistes you see over there most of them live on debts.

Kudos to you guy. You just hit the nail on the head.
Naija artists need their brains reset asap.
Big gbosa to
Olamide
Darey
Asa
9ice
Tiwa
Tubaba
Flavor
Omawunmi
They really make sense

Synord:


In the last one year, Nigeria music has gained a lot of acceptance from music lovers all around the world. Nigeria artists doing collabos and getting features from international acts like Drake, Tydollasign,rkelly to Foreign celebs jamming our songs like ojuelegba,pana etc and our artists signing " mouth watering " international music deals .




Written By Iamsynord

Follow on twitter @iamsynord
Idsam600@gmail.com

Very nice write up. You need to know the politics behind this. Sony and some other record label are on the espionage to undermine African music industry. So the strategy is to entice them with money and make them irrrevant so as not to compete with American acts.

This is another form of slavery. Its called economy slavery. They know if African is left alone, the growth will soon supercede the black-american acts. So they are on decimation ride.

JeffreyJamez:


Most managers just skip to the money part of contract to know sharing ratio.

I gave one contract,he said "guy all this one na grammar show me where it talks of the sharing formula"...I just laugh he no know why,when time reach he go know what's up

Exactly my point. These managers don't care, at the end, the contract will do nothing to them but get them money. Their clients end up being in bondage. You think Sunday Are or Kamal will be held responsible if davido or wiz breaks any contract term? My brother nothing o. Na then pikin go carry e mama breast o. That's why they aren't really bothered

Impressed with op write up ... be a lion in the jungle , feed at will than a dog in city been feed !

Babzilla:

Look U stand to gain more here in naija
Its only in naija that you can release an album and eat 100%of your sales. over ther if you see10% thank God. Plus those artistes you see over there most of them live on debts.

Err,I stand to disagree o......No Artist ever eats 100% of Thier sales ,it's not even possible lol

LecciGucci:
ABEG WHO IS AYO JAY?..
IF AYO JAY REALLY GOY THIS DEAL TOO DEN.
THIS IS A JOKE??.

AYO JAY WHO IS NOT EVEN POPULAR IN NIGERIA.
I CANT REMEMBER ANY OF his songs

He's not based in Nigeria

LecciGucci:
ABEG WHO IS AYO JAY?..
IF AYO JAY REALLY GOY THIS DEAL TOO DEN.
THIS IS A JOKE??.

AYO JAY WHO IS NOT EVEN POPULAR IN NIGERIA.
I CANT REMEMBER ANY OF his songs

Dude started out in America. He has couple of interesting singles like Available and Think About Me. He has Chris Brown and Fetty Wap on one of his songs, and the collabo was way better than most Wizkid's international collabo (excl One Dance)

PabloOmoEscobar:
Exactly my point. These managers don't care, at the end, the contract will do nothing to them but get them money. Their clients end up being in bondage. You think Sunday Are or Kamal will be held responsible if davido or wiz breaks any contract term? My brother nothing o. Na then pikin go carry e mama breast o. That's why they aren't really bothered

I don't actually blame them tho.... guyto be manager of Nigerian artist na WORK!!!..With lil pay...Na why if then see mega deal,baba na to cash out!

Misterdhee1:

Dude started out in America. He has couple of interesting singles like Available and Think About Me. He has Chris Brown and Fetty Wap on one of his songs, and the collabo was way better than most Wizkid's international collabo (excl One Dance)

Watin con consine WizKid for Ayo Jay matter? Na wa for some pple o

I don't think the Op understands what it means to be signed by a major record label and what it entails. I used to be an entertainment lawyer and i have seen first hand what goes into signing an artist to an international label and the risks the label takes signing artists. Most of the complains here deals with money and exposure the artist claims he is not getting from the label but no one wants to talk about the underlining issues that deals with signing a record contract.

First of all you have to know that a record label is a business and its number one priority is to make money. No label would sign any artist that would not rake in profits. Its not a foundation or NGO where they dash out free money for artists to waste and buy expensive things for no reason. Every dollar must be accounted for. What people don't know is that every time they sign an artist for Bleep million dollars, that money is like a loan given to the artist in advance to shoot videos, record songs in studios, hire producers, pay radio djs and vjs, push their cds to music bloggers, writers and radio stations, pay for equipment, pay for the artist's image and P.R etc. In return the label must recoup what they have given to the artist in terms of sales of their cds, concerts, appearance, endorsement and merchandise. That's why they have to control their image and creative rights so that they can successfully market the artist to recoup their money.

The problem arises when the artist agrees to take a huge advance of the Bleep millions he signed for and spends it recklessly. They spend so much on videos that won't yield any profit. They spend a lot purchasing flashy things to maintain a flashy lifestyle. They spend a lot on costly studios productions and mismanage the money. They move with a large entourage and pay for everything the entourage purchases. They are always popping champagne and living a lavish lifestyle in clubs and frolicking with women. Meanwhile the contract states that they must sell above 100,000 or more cds so that the label can break even but the artist has not even finished recording the songs talk less of marketing the song to the public. The contract also states the sharing profit formular for both the artist and the label ( maybe a 60/40 sharing ratio..60 FOR LABEL AND 40 FOR ARTIST) but the artist has already taken his advance of the 40% but he expects the label to still share the cd sales profit and concert profits when the label has not recouped anything. How do you expect the label to act when its running at a loss?

Most artists don't know the Label is like a bank. They borrow you an advance and expect a full repayment with interest. Once the Label is having difficulties in achieving its aim, it becomes aggressive and engage in drastic cuts to limit the expensive lifestyle and actions of the artist. Its that moment you begin to see the artist complaining that the label is cheating them but you would never see the artist tell the public that he was given Bleep amount of money in advance which they squandered. They expect the label to share the cd sales 50/50 or the concert profits 50/50 because they have achieved the fame they craved for without enriching the pockets of the label. Nobody would agree to that.

Look at most artists today. They don't have lawyers that study their contracts, they don't have accountants to manage their funds, they don't have sensible managers that advise them on what to spend and what to save. Its all about achieving fame and spending lavishly to impress the public without working hard to make money for themselves and the label. The label would not allow them go and break the contract without them recouping their profit and if the artist attempts to run, they would set a plethora of lawyers on them to conform until they recoup their money or break even. There is simply no free lunch contrary to what the public thinks. Some artists are so ignorant that they sign 5 or 6 year deals with a label because they promised them Bleep millions but they forget that the contract is binding as long as you took their money. They even sign without lawyers and pose for the cameras for bloggers to hail them as the next Michael Jackson only for them to start crying after 1 year when they don't see the projected income they were dreaming of. So if you are going to blame the Label also remember the artist is also at fault. No body would dash any artist free money to waste lavishly and not suffer the repercussions. The label is not their family member. Its a business pure and simple. If you collect their money, you must work for it. Its that simple!

Synord .. Sometimes I wonder how you guyz jump into conclusion. Did WizKid announced signing a Sony deal? Or did Sony announced signing wizzy to her label

leobrownish:
the question is do we have good music to listen to in Nigeria, all we do is reply to there f**king beat and make sentimental comments when the song comes out.

Our music is the best in Africa.

JeffreyJamez:


I don't actually blame them tho.... guyto be manager of Nigerian artist na WORK!!!..With lil pay...Na why if then see mega deal,baba na to cash out!

I don't blame them either. It's all business. But then, they should cut down the greed

Synord:


In the last one year, Nigeria music has gained a lot of acceptance from music lovers all around the world. Nigeria artists doing collabos and getting features from international acts like Drake, Tydollasign,rkelly to Foreign celebs jamming our songs like ojuelegba,pana etc and our artists signing " mouth watering " international music deals .


In the last two years,a lot of Nigerian artists signed deals with international record labels..Burna boy and Seyi shay signed with Universal music, Davido signed with Sony and RCA ,Ayo jay signed with RCA, wizkid and shizzi also alleged signed with Sony music , Ycee ,adey and mystro signed with Sony ATV and tiwa savage inked a deal with ROC nation ( To me, tiwa savage deal is the best international music deal any contemporary nigerian music artist has signed and I will discuss the reason) .

The Question now is " Is Sony music deals and other international record label deals the key to the much desired international recognition Nigerian artists crave ??

Dbanj signed a Deal with Good music in 2012 as the first African artist and subsequently a deal with Mercury records also..The only thing Dbanj achieved with good music was shouting ' oh oh " in one of their tracks ,getting kanye in a video and then a cameo in Mercy's video.

. Here was one of Africa's most respectes artiste Dbanj in one of the biggest label in the world at the time,Kanye's West Label and we all knew how did story ended.. Once the reign of Dbanj Hit single" Oliver twist was over , his contract was also over and dbanj was dropped from good music without an official statement from the Label.. Signing the deal under Good music was one of the wrong moves in Dbanj's career.

The only thing this foreign labels seek is to milk the hype and accolades surrounding an artiste with a succesful song so as to gain access to the African audience.. If not , why is Sony music and other intl labels not picking Timi dakolo, darey,asa and Bez bearing in mind that their music is much similar to what is obtained over there and they are far more talented ?? Of course they are known but they just wouldn't be picked..

Record labels are meant to discover and nurture unknown but very talented artistes to stardom( look at mavin,Ybnl) but alas, this Foreign labels are picking the biggest and hottest African artists to quickly use and dump , treating them like the upcoming acts they chose to be while the contracts lasts..

Anyone that thinks international deal is the key to international recognition has a wrong mindset..Fela anikulapo Kuti is the Most recognized African act and he signed no international deal..Angelique Kidjo won three Grammys,featured on Time,CNN ,Aljazeera,BBC and went platinum without any international deal....Sunny ade,Marian makemba and Even Asa are in fact known more internationally than some of this artists with international deals..

Of course we cannot compare the talent of this great musicians to our contemporary artists but I believe with Good music you can reach anywhere, deal or no deal..Wizkid had drake and chrisbrown on his songs before his Sony deal, Tuface was on BET and won MTV awards with no international deal..

It is pertinent to note that Once a deal is signed, Sony have control over the artist creative license and songs that make the artists project..I mean just look at Davido's Ep.. The label is now forcing americalized music on our artistes..They no longer have creative control over their own music..While I am not saying Good music should be done, trying to sound so much like something you not or not comfortable with never yields a good result.. photocopy go easy.This was something that happened to dbanj, trying to gain international reverence while losing home base acceptance forgetting that when u go all around the world, you will still return back home.

Even the songs they record are not allowed to be dropped at will?? How many tours have Sony organized for davido...?? How many interviews ??..

To me personally, Tiwa savage deal with Roc nation is the best deal ...Why is this ?? Because it is a managerial deal !!! The deal is basically like a promoter and artiste relationship. tiwa is still under Mavin and all ROC nation does is to promote anything tiwa releases under mavin records on their platform.. no control over music, release the type of songs she is comfortable with and ROC nation markets her to the international market as the original African artist she is.


All in all, it is high time Nigeria artistes know the dictates before going ahead to sign deals and not just merry over been picked up by foreign labels..Signing a record deal is not just shouting only African artist on Columbia records or saying Four million dollars deal in the pocket ?? , if you doubt ask Skales who was asked to pay over a billion naira to set aside his record deal with baseline..

I repeat , no artiste will last long with " dance tengere , whine it tengere, or dodo leleyi in an international record label.. Its better to stick to the Home base fans that lack the taste for song with good lyrics and meaning.. If u can't do good music, be ready to risk losing ur home made fans , Do more americanized music and waive originality aside plus wait months or years to drop ur projects, don't sign an international record deal..You can't eat your cake and have it .....


At this point ,my maximum respect goes to Olamide....Shey international recognition ni Mama ma je?? Sometimes it best to be a Lion in the jungle than be a dog in the city... if it comes , it comes as long as originality is there, music has no language.

At the end, Good music will always triumph !!!

Written By Iamsynord

Follow on twitter @iamsynord
Idsam600@gmail.com

Good post and advice to those who have ears!.

Be informed, our artists are the ones proactively reaching out to the international record labels for international recognition, not the international labels looking for them. They're trying to use the international labels to ride to global fame they don't deserve. The international record labels understands the game more. They best understand the game more than our artists do, so they exploit them.

If they're very good, Sony music, RCA, interscope, BMG, Virgin records, e.t.c will look for them instead, reach a deal with them and promote their songs worldwide, because they know it would sell in all countries; India, Japan, China, Australia, Finland, UK, Saudi Arabia, USA, Kenya, Uganda, Mexico, Nigeria, Canada, name them, including all islands; Bahamas, Brunei, Canary island, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Vanuatu, Naura, name them.

A friend once came back from Australia back in the days, and I asked him which Nigerian musicians get airplay on Australian radios. And he replied; Fela, Majeck Fashek, Sunny Ade. That was far back 1999 though.

Wat ar u saying? sticking to the basis?
Olamide is sticking to local fame Dats y his lyrics av gone from better to Worse...copying pasuma Fuji songs and pasting in hip hop, is dat originality? Wen u've conquered ur world, d next tin is to move forward.
Olamide dumped rap music for a while for singing, yet pple kept following cos he z a street guy.
Its ur work dat wud take u international nt d pple around u,wizkid grew bigger wt ojuelegba.
U saying fela was known without any international record deal, do u want to compare his days wt nw?

Misterdhee1:

Dude started out in America. He has couple of interesting singles like Available and Think About Me. He has Chris Brown and Fetty Wap on one of his songs, and the collabo was way better than most Wizkid's international collabo (excl One Dance)

Betta Dan ojuelegba remix?
Let him d singles with Chris brown
Shey u wan compare ago jay wt wizzy in?
No go dia ooo

heryurh:
Wizkid Signed ZERO International deal yet he's International already

Correct!! Even if he signed any inter deal no one is aware beside he's well known internationally b4 any deal.

Op you are so jealous of Tekno from the rubbish you posted.
You just indirectly singled out the Igbo boy.
He signed a deal worth $4m by singing “dance tangere", as you said. At least, he is being himself, I can't say the same about you, mumu.

I feel it in my bones that you're
an Afonja Conehead

lovat:
I'm waiting for Grammy from 9ice

believe me Bro,9ice can still win a Grammy !!!
He has the potential

chyke007:
OP I bet you will dump this your long epistle if Sony offers you $4 Million Dollars too

You don't just sign and 4 million dollars is transferred into your account. No!!! You will earn the money and if they are not getting what they want, you will end up owning.

Emekamex:
Davido is fast losing relevance, I hope he wont end up like Dbanj.
Americans rarely listen to other peoples music, if the deal you sign leads you to lose home fanbase, it is advisable not to sign such deals.

b
But they jam Caribbean tunes a lot, so that invalidates your argument that Americans don't listen to outside music...

Especially the Jamaican artistes