… a tale of support, Genuine interest and commitment
Today, the music and entertainment industry in Nigeria has attained deserved respect and global recognition climbing through stages of desirable developments. Through this transformation, some remarkable factors and innovations stand out.
The Nigerian music industry has experienced a steady but progressive journey to a destination of superlative acceptance for homemade sounds and music of indigenous flows and languages. Little is remembered of the time when albums and hits of international charts took the larger part of our shelves and the period when foreign artistes took the shine with pride, even replacing themselves as rave of the moment in our musical consciousness.
The likes of Craig David, Sean Paul, Usher, Joe, Destiny Childs and Others bring memories of that era of dominance of foreign songs at home and even in the clubs, it is even on record that at a particular time the African sounds of Makossa enjoyed a proud share of the dominance, parading artistes like Awilo Logomba, Koffi Olomide and the Premier Gaou crew. What beat the imagination of many is that even though the lyrics of these songs were in French and not English it didn’t stop them from ranking high in the order of priority then and claiming a place in the archives of some of the country’s most danced -to songs of those times.
Telecommunications and the era of Transformation
Whether deliberately or coincidentally, it is a fact that the advent of an all round telecommunication system in Nigeria occurred during the time of our musical independence and has certainly enabled its easy journey towards the present state where indigenous sounds and local artistes have gradually replaced foreign artistes and their songs. The transformation has seen the country take a lead role in placing Nigeria and Africa’s sound and music strongly on the world scene
Apart from the consciousness of the need to embrace home- made sounds, technological innovations also affected the traditional means of music distribution which involves a process of hard copy sale and distribution of music in bulk, it was time for this old form of storage and distribution to give room for a more advanced system that is not only more conducive but easier to manage.
As the industry grew several telecommunication giants and corporate organizations while finding their way into the heart of esteemed customers have had to connect to the growing music industry, the leading player in telecommunications being MTN Nigeria. Achieving the feat of becoming the biggest distributor of Nigerian music in the country was perhaps the winning code for MTN in this compulsory synergy period with the Nigerian entertainment industry.
Paying royalties to deserving artistes through its caller tunes
Through its ring back tones popularly referred to as caller tunes, launched in 2008 as a revenue stream, MTN harnessed the huge potential in an innovation that has turned out to be safely rewarding to both the artistes and the industry, becoming one of the largest distribution platforms for music content in Nigeria.
The caller tunes provided Nigerian artistes with a concrete means to monetize their content and enjoy a full reward for their labour since it was impossible for the songs on the service to be pirated or duplicated, it is worthy of note that in the last 3 years over 80 percent of Nigerian music industry earnings has come from MTN, Globacom ,Etisalat, NB PLC and other corporate giants who have contributed to making our local artistes wealthier through brand endorsements, shows and music downloads.
In 2013 subscription to the caller tunes service of MTN Nigeria alone reached the 17 million subscriber mark a record that seem intimidating and unbeatable for other networks, At the moment MTN Nigeria is not dropping standards as its Caller ring back tunes has a staggering number of over 39 million subscribers.
It is remarkable that in 2014, MTN generated 5 billion Naira, which it paid as royalties for Nigerian music Artistes, who sell their contents as caller tunes on its platform.
An age of unbeatable spends on endorsement deals
In 2012 MTN threw out their first endorsement deal when it hired the services of pop singer Davido as the ambassador of MTN Pulse in a deal reportedly worth 30m. The following year past winners of the MTN Project fame a show solely sponsored by MTN, Singers Inyanya 40m, Mike imyke ayansodo 10m chidinma 20m and Praiz 20m.
The Nigerian entertainment industry will not forget in a hurry the famous move of Hafeez Saka Oyetoro from another telecom company Etisalat in a deal reportedly worth 25m, taking the spending spree to another level MTN dispensed some more millions, this time to young Wiz -kid 45m, Tiwa savage 30m, kcee 25m and even Don jazzy along with younger brother the prince got their share of the better times. The papers went agog with headlines of MTN’s 500m on endorsement deals leaving opposition with much to catch up on.
The dynamic nature of the caller tune arrangement is perhaps another reason why it is largely successful for example MTN ambassador Iyanya has songs on other networks in the same vein Flavour a Glo ambassador has songs on the MTN service which makes it easy for subscribers to access their various songs irrespective of the network.
Making them famous in the project fame
The MTN Project fame is also another demonstration of MTN, s commitment to improving the music and entertainment industry in Nigeria, since its inception the project fame has churned out talents and revealed sublime music potentials to Nigeria and the world. The discovery of the likes of Chidinma, Praise, Iyanya, Timi Dakolo, Omawunmi and others have proven an undisputable fact that Nigeria artistes can hold their own against their foreign counterparts if given equal training and attention.
The immediate rise to fame and fortune and sustained consistency of proud products of this academy is also another testimony that our very own local talent, sound and even music has come to stay and for good.
As Nigeria celebrates its current enviable state of improvement and growth in the entertainment industry there has always been a constant feature of MTN and its immense contributions. For MTN they can confidently say without reservation that ‘We were there’ and everyday their record of unflinching unveils a bright promise of better things to come.
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