Nigerian Musicians Depend on Chinese Investments to Cash Out on Streaming Platform

The surge has also opened new revenue streams for artists and is transforming the music industry in Nigeria.

Experts have said that the Nigerian music industry is at its peak in Africa and has significantly changed recently, with music streaming becoming the in-thing for top African artists.

Increased growth in internet access, propelled by Chinese investment in ICT development, has created a new music ecosystem attracting investments from across the world.

BusinessInsider report said that in 2018, the Chinese music streaming platform, Boomplay, entered into a licensing agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG) to distribute UMG’s music catalog across the continent.

Boomplay said in its 2021 report that Afrobeat sensation, Davido was rated the highest-earning artist on its platform with N58.8 million. Wizkid emerged fifth top earner in Africa in that year. A recent World Bank report says that internet access in Africa increased from 1% in 2000 to 29% in 2020, the highest in the world.

The fast growth of smartphone and internet access accelerated digitization in the music industry and other related sectors, which drove music streamlining in Africa across new audiences and markets.