OPINION: 5 FAILINGS OF THE NIGERIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY

For a music sector such as the Nigerian music industry where a lot of music is released daily, a lot of credits should go to these artistes for the effort they put in releasing good music. Some artistes have relentlessly shaped the path of our music sector and have in large parts contributed in the growth of our music from not just a music sector to a huge music industry.

Despite the fact that our music industry seem to be gaining global recognition now and making enormous progress, there have been several failings that have largely gone unnoticed or seemingly unaddressed. As a collective effort, it is our responsibility to correct some of these shortcomings. Below are five failings that must be attended to in other to improve our music industry.

1. Very few original artistes

Has anyone noticed how most Nigerian tracks sound alike? Even when they try their best to sound unique it’s always a different if not cheaper version of Jamaican and American music style. Gone are the days when Fela Kuti, KSA, Onyeka Onyenwu reigned supreme with original and creative works. our present superstars have all had their names smeared with accusations of song theft and plagiarism from Davido & Gobe saga to Wizkid and Dammy Krane fight to Mavin Records versus Five star Music to Don Jazzy and Wande Coal to name a few. This trend has eaten so deep into our music culture and it’s high time we fixed it.

2. God like Attitude of Celebs

Many a times our celebs have suffered countless cyber bullying in the hands of unruly fans and this has built a thick skin around them that one is afraid to question their actions even when it calls for criticism. Yemi Alade, Davido, B Red, Wizkid and many others have all gotten themselves entangled in social media spat because their works have been one way or the other criticized. If the consumers of your products cannot question you when you go astray isn’t it best you keep your music to yourself?

3. Record Labels and their lack of proper structures

Mention one record label in Nigeria and I’d give you the name of an artiste they've had issues with. Some of these issues have been minimal and settled amicably while others have resulted in both parties fighting it out in law courts, throwing jabs and counter jabs at each other. One major cause of this seems to be a lack of proper documentation and concrete plans for the signees thereby leaving them dissatisfied after a few years. We need to stop this trend before it gets out of hand. For every debacle between a record label and an artiste a new label is born. This is not the solution.

4. Excessive inundation Of Technology and musical digitalization

75 % of this present crop of Nigerian artistes cannot boast of a live stage performance without their songs being played at the background. The introduction of auto tunes and other special effects has helped in masking many deficiencies in our musical acts hence when they go on stage they rely heavily on the DJ repeating the same song over loud speakers. It is only a handful of artistes that have embraced the live band option and even when they do they fail to reproduce the same excellent sound you hear on their recorded songs. This should improve or we might not be able to stand side by side with world greats. So many of them dream of winning the prestigious Grammy award. If this heavy reliance on mechanical sounds continues we might continue to be a long way off our first Grammy award.

5. Money over good music

Money seems to wield more power in the industry than good music and musical talents. Right now, everyone’s mind is centered on financial acquisition. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that making money should not be part of music business, but the urge to make fast and big money has overtaken the music scene. Nowadays artistes’ no longer care about making good music instead their focus is how to blow and make money. In the western world the best artistes are usually the richest but in our local industry that is not always the case. Here the focus is on the millionaire mediocre superstars while the super talented acts are largely ignored. Sure, when an artiste sells a lot of tracks you can’t say he/she has not been successful, but there are actually successful musicians that their music is crap. It is because of this that a certain Yemi Alade would talk about the money she makes when her songs are criticized. Honestly if as an artiste your priority is money over your music, you really have no business being in the music industry.

Akpofure Shedrack is a writer, entertainment Critic, social media enthusiast, social commentator and Nigerian music lover. You can connect with me on social media where i share my thoughts on issues ranging from entertainment to politics and social vices.

Twitter/IG: @king_konfam