shed01:
Wow...
#Real !!

It is just how it is for we upcomers aswear.

Below are the Top 5 Reasons we think some Upcoming artistes will not still blow this 2019.

1. Desperate Search For Record Label

Many upcoming artiste in Nigeria are still carrying about the thinking that getting signed to a record label is the key to becoming a star. Hell No!

Y’all are getting it wrong. Oladips was way hotter in the industry prior to signing to Reminisce‘s LRR records. Man be dropping bangers back-to-back then but now he seems to have been confined to a shell of a record deal which is really affecting his career to be honest.

Instead of going all out desperately searching for a record label, why not keep doing your thing and solicit for sponsorship around from those who genuinely love your music craft.

Remember, Small Doctor was helped by people who love what he does. They helped him promote his first hit single and up till today he is still doing his things solo.

If your song is good enough, People will gladly want to help and associate with you when they see the Potential in you. It’s easy to help a creative person.

Don’t get it twisted, we are not saying signing to a record label is not a good thing for upcoming artistes, instead of going all out to look for them, work hard and make them look for you.

We wouldn’t have added this part but it’s important thing to do – No good record label around like before, Blow and become your own label, it’s rewarding that way, ask Olamide

2. Lack Of Proper Funds For Promotion

Our upcoming artistes are all guilty of this attitude. After garnering money up for producing a nice song, the problem of putting such efforts in getting funds to promote the song goes down.

What does it profit an artiste who recorded a nice track but ended up promoting it poorly or not promoting it in the right place?

From our 9 years experience, we’ve seen a bad song blow because of adequate promotion and good song dies because it was not promoted well.

Imagine yourself as an artiste, after releasing a nice track in the studio then feel the next is to be looking for cheap blogs for promotion? You are indirectly killing yourself and wasting your time.

It’s a known fact that Blogs pay a huge role in promoting artistes these days, but whatever is what doing is worth doing well. Don’t forget the fact that no matter how good a song is, it needs a massive audience to listen and glorify the song to the outer world.

Most of these artistes run from well notable websites and opt in for sites with few users just because they do not want to spend money.

In the long run, those that will download your songs are only the ones that you broadcast the links to. As a result, no new fans for you.

Work hard to promote your songs on notable website and blogs, there are certain websites that has the authority already in promoting music artistes. ⁣

If looking for cheap blogs with less traffic is what you want to continue doing in 2019, If you blow, na your cooking gas explode.

3. Not Paying Attention To Some Little But Important Details When Dropping Songs⁣

As an upcoming artiste, one of the reasons you might not ‘blow‘ in 2019 is that you have refused to pay close attention to areas that make up a good song.⁣

Song Title

Little details like the song title, you should pick a song title that is easy to relate with by all class of people, from young to old.

How can you expect to get an hit song when your song title is wack. Most hit songs in Nigeria today are just 3, 4 or 5 letter in them. Talk about Soco, Fia, Fever, If and others *Forget Shepeteri


If your title must be long, it has to be something trending. Just like when Trod released “Lazy Nigerian Youths“, the title alone will make you want to listen because, that was trending then.

Use your Face on your Artwork

Secondly, as an upcoming artiste, endeavor to always use your face in your artworks, so that fans can register your face in their heads and also feel connected with you. When you finally blow, putting your face in all artworks might not always be necessary.

Put your Social media handles on your Artwork

Meanwhile, lot’s of upcoming artistes do artworks without including their social media handles. This is a mistake that can cost you lifetime opportunity. We have received mails from some big record companies to provide contact details of some upcoming acts who promote songs on Naijaloaded.

While some were lucky we found their contacts, some were not but guess what? If they had included their social media handles in their artwork, the record companies would have contacted them directly.
⁣
However, it is important to note that your artwork design really tells how serious you are with your career. No one will download your song if your artwork is whack. In most cases, the dopeness of your artwork gives people the impression that your music is dope.

So, before you start using that your Alakuko or Alagbado graphics designer this 2019, think about it well.

4. Famzing A-List Artistes On Social Media⁣[/b]

Dear Upcoming Artistes,⁣

Stop that low spirited acts this 2019 as part of your hustle to become a blown artiste.⁣

Famzing already establish artiste on social media will not help you in anyways, rather it will demean your ego anytime the artiste bash you with a savage response.⁣

You know how savage all these A-List artistes can be atimes. Just stay loyal to your grind, when you make wavy jam, they will come looking for you. We don see enough example yapa

We are not saying you should not tag them in your Instagram videos or tweets but begging them to sign you in comments section and DMs will mean you’re worthless.

The truth is, fake love is real in the music industry, be hardworking and build your fan base in the little way you can.

No one will sign you if there is no glimpse that you will be a profitable investment for them. Never!

[b]5. Desperation To Make Money From Music As Upcoming Artiste

Most of upcoming artistes forget the fact that their first career goal is to be known and famous for good music but it quite unfortunate that they easily get carried away with “Raba” to the extent that they upload their music on iTunes for people to buy.

Why will I buy your song when I don’t even know you?

⁣Nigerians don’t buy songs, so it’s unreasonable to start chasing money with music when your fan base is so little.

Be wise, release your music materials freely for everyone to download and listen. The more people listening to your songs, the more popular you become.

When you become very popular, money will naturally come and then you can start selling your content on iTunes, Spotify, Deezer and other premium stores. It’s simple!

Also some upcoming artistes charge people for shows, you never blow you dey charge for show, who wan pay you?⁣

This is 2019, change your ways and make sure you’re always on the right path.

The End!![b][/b]

1. Marketing, Promotion & PR

The need for marketing and promotion is unlikely to go away any time soon.

For one thing, best practices are changing fast. Things are moving from a “push” approach to a “pull” approach, which involves less hard selling and more value delivered upfront.

For another, marketing is human by nature.

It is generated by human beings to appeal to other human beings. A machine is incapable of fully understanding human beings or their behaviors. So, it’s up to you to understand buying behaviors and sales psychology.

I once interviewed former CD Baby founder Derek Sivers, and he shared with me that promotion and marketing are crucial now that recording, and distribution have gotten so inexpensive and easy. It was about eight years ago that he shared this with me, but I think it’s still a valid point.

Call me out if I’m wrong on this – but it seems to me that most musicians leave school not knowing the first thing about marketing. Schools clearly aren’t prioritizing the business side of building a music career.

Good promotion is hard to come by. If this is something you can provide for musicians and other businesses, I think you’ll do well.

It can be hard to create proper timelines for your clients or know exactly what to charge for your services, but as you navigate these challenges, you’ll learn to streamline your operations and develop a worthy service.

2. Record Label

Starting your own record label has become significantly easier over the years.

For instance, Ditto Music has an offering called Record Label In A Box, which comes with prearranged business banking, a domain name, business registration documents, and pretty much everything you need to get started

Even if you’re not entrepreneurial, if you’re a prolific musician, there are certain benefits to starting your own label. It’s a good way of legitimizing what you do, and can lend more credibility to it too.

The toughest thing about building a record label is:
1. Determining what your niche is going to be.
2. Finding talent that reflects your branding.

For instance, CandyRat Records is known for signing virtuoso guitarist types. When people want to hear great guitar instrumental music, they can check out the latest releases on their website.

If an artist feels they have the chops to succeed as a guitar instrumentalist, they would likely reach out to CandyRat for a chance to be signed.
Building a reputation is important for a label. It’s not wise to try to be good at everything.

“We work with everyone” is not a branding statement – it’s a good way to be vanilla. You’ll never stand out from the crowd!

Your goal should be to work with specific artists with a specific esthetic.

Once you succeed on that level, you can begin thinking about expanding. Until then, stick to your guns.

3. Social Media Platform

There are many emerging businesses developing social media platforms specifically for musicians and the music industry at large.

This means there’s considerable competition in this space, but if you can come up with a unique idea, you may be able to break through.

For instance, there’s an app called UpNext which allows you to build your virtual record label comprised of real emerging artists. It’s the meeting place of mobile games, music discovery, and social networking.

Personally, I’m a little overwhelmed by social media as is, and I’m more than sufficient with Facebook and Twitter. The only reason I’m on any platform is because I’m looking to share my content and add value to the world. I don’t mind sharing the occasional personal update too, but I’m certainly not there to brag or show off.

So, I might be a little jaded about social media. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start your own social networking business. The main thing to think about is your value proposition. Why will people use your social network? What will make it unique? Who will it appeal to?

We don’t need another Facebook, because Facebook already exists. What we need is a platform that’s tailor made for smaller niches and communities.

4. Streaming Platform

Today, streaming is the most popular mode of music consumption. By far, one of the most well-known streaming platforms is Spotify, which is about to go public.

Meanwhile, major players like Microsoft are shutting down Groove Music (their streaming app) because of the intensity of the competition. This shouldn’t come as a surprise when you consider that companies like Google and Apple are competing in the same market.

A few years ago, it seemed like there were news items about new streaming companies launching every other day. These days, not so much.

I’m not trying to discourage you from getting into this space – quite the opposite, in fact. If you can find a way to keep operations streamlined and determine what your unique selling proposition is, you could potentially create a successful niche streaming platform.

But tread lightly, because general consumers already have convenient, universal options to meet their streaming needs. The supply isn’t scarce, and there aren’t many inefficiencies to be worked out.

So, you better find a way to stand out and offer something unique if you think this is the right opportunity for you.

5. SaaS App

It’s surprising to me that not many music entrepreneurs are thinking about developing SaaS apps to help musicians and the industry.

SaaS stands for Software as a Service. Basically, customers become subscribers and pay a monthly fee to use your app. You’re probably familiar with platforms like Hootsuite, Slack, Zendesk, Dropbox, and so on.

It’s clear to me that musicians have many needs in terms of digital and online marketing

I would think a SaaS app to serve this market would be welcomed – an app that helps musicians streamline the process of posting to social media and sharing their show dates across many sites, for instance. I’ve talked to a few programmers, and they said this wouldn’t be hard to do.

What about a SaaS app that tracks all your merch sales and inventory? An app that keeps stats on concert attendance, audience demographics, and ticket sales? An App that streamlines the process of ordering CDs and digital distribution?

I’m just throwing out ideas here. I’m not saying they would all do well. But it seems to me that you could pretty much create a Hootsuite (social media), Zendesk (accounting), or Dropbox (file storage and sharing) for the music industry and see some success with it.

SaaS businesses tend to be valued highly over other types of online businesses, and can therefore become major assets in your portfolio too.

6. Agency

Agencies provide other companies and individuals with the solutions they need to succeed in their endeavors.

There are many types of agencies. Some agencies handle dancers for music videos. Some book musicians for specific gigs and events. Some oversee marketing duties for music businesses.

If you’re interested in becoming the go-between and filling gaps in other people’s businesses, then you’ll love running an agency. And, oftentimes, it’s not rocket science to figure out what your customers might be looking for – talent, marketing, PR, strategy, and so on.

Essentially, an agency is a B2B (business to business) type business. This means your customers will typically be other businesses. While this shouldn’t change the way you approach it, it’s good to be aware of what you’re getting into.

So, what gaps do you think you could fill? How could you benefit other businesses? What can you take off their plate to make their lives easier? This is where the opportunities lie as an agency.

7. Consulting

If you have experience in a lot of areas, and you’re a generalist as opposed to a specialist, then starting your own consulting business might be an option worth looking at.

The adage in entrepreneurship is that if you can’t figure out what to do, then you should go and become a consultant. Someone will be willing to pay for your advice.

And, to be fair, there are some unsavory consultants out there. They take money, offer a few nuggets of advice, slack off and offer very little value.

An outside perspective is often valuable to musicians and music businesses alike, so some will happily pay for your time, even if you’re ultimately incompetence. But I am not advocating this approach.

If you want to be a professional at offering consulting services, then you should take your job seriously, do your research, and come up with meaningful solutions that help your clients.

The further along someone is in their career, the harder it can sometimes be to help them. So, recognize that your job only gets harder when working with larger clients.

A consulting business can be hard to scale, but not impossible. Here’s what I mean. What often happens is that an individual expert becomes a consultant in their industry and charges a fixed hourly rate for their time.

The problem is that they have limited time and can only book so many sessions before their schedule is completely full.

What you might need to do instead is build training products that solve common problems and sell them to get more leverage on your time. Or, train a team of experts that can handle clients on your behalf.

It’s no surprise that so many people want to be a part of the music industry.

From the outside looking in, it looks fun, glamorous, and exciting, though I can tell you right now it doesn’t always look this way from the inside.

Make no mistake about it. Starting a business in the music industry is no small deal, and it will require considerable time and effort on your part.

It’s best not to think of it as being any different from starting a business in another industry, because it isn’t. Depending on the niche you’re planning to get into, it could prove even harder to build a business in the music industry than in other sectors.

But maybe music is what you know best. Or maybe there’s an important message you want to share with musicians. It could be that your skills and experiences are exactly what the industry needs and is looking for.

If you’re passionate about music and can’t see yourself doing anything else, here are several opportunities you can pursue in the music industry.

1. Marketing, Promotion & PR

The need for marketing and promotion is unlikely to go away any time soon.

For one thing, best practices are changing fast.

Things are moving from a “push” approach to a “pull” approach, which involves less hard selling and more value delivered upfront.

For another, marketing is human by nature. It is generated by human beings to appeal to other human beings.

A machine is incapable of fully understanding human beings or their behaviors. So, it’s up to you to understand buying behaviors and sales psychology

I once interviewed former CD Baby founder Derek Sivers, and he shared with me that promotion and marketing are crucial now that recording, and distribution have gotten so inexpensive and easy.

It was about eight years ago that he shared this with me, but I think it’s still a valid point.

Call me out if I’m wrong on this – but it seems to me that most musicians leave school not knowing the first thing about marketing.

Schools clearly aren’t prioritizing the business side of building a music career.

Good promotion is hard to come by. If this is something you can provide for musicians and other businesses, I think you’ll do well.

It can be hard to create proper timelines for your clients or know exactly what to charge for your services, but as you navigate these challenges, you’ll learn to streamline your operations and develop a worthy service.


Watchout for part 2

Bigmikedagod:
Hmmm

American, does a song addressing real life issues
Americans: Great, very inspiring.



Nigerian, does literally the same exact thing.
Nigerians: Failed artist, your song no go blow.


finally we Nigerians are the cause of our own problems. what does it take you to be supportive

Very very true. I believe we should all come together to help each other out.

Holywizard:
Haaaba!
I think say Andyblaze is one of the unserious fellas here. Do you want to be meaningful for once?


BTW! I Neva listened to ur track bcoz e go be wack

Guy how far nah. why so savage like this

It hurts me deeply to see how the authorities decide to punish Naira Marley just to serve as a scape goat for others. It's not fair at all. EFCC is been partial and are bent on destroying him

iron mad is a monster hit if mavin can efficiently promote the song for "Rema"

kombo:
Lovely... eminado, eminado.... *in don jazzy's voice*

lol. very funny. Cant wait for Donjazzy to get married.

nice song. her new sound is off the chart