Joey Akan, a Nigerian music journalist, revealed that Mavin Records spent a total of $225,000 in the first three months of 2023 to create and release tracks for five artists.
He stated that only seven tracks were made available to the signees, namely Ayra Starr, Boy Spyce, Rema, Crayon, and Magixx.
The podcaster provided a hazy breakdown of how the $225k (approximately N170 million) budget was spent on Boy Spyce’s “Folake,” Ayra Starr’s “Sability,” and other tracks.
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Joey stated, “In the first quarter of 2023, Mavin Records spent an average of $225,000 on dropping music for their roster artists.” The record label has issued 7 records from 5 artists, with one single from each artist working its way through the system.
How? Why is the price so high? Mavins began early. On January 25th, Boy Spyce raced out the gate with “Folake.” On February 9, Ayra Starr’s “Sability” was released two weeks later.
Rema would arrive 10 days later, on February 15, with “Holiday” and “Reason You.” Because elections were important, a month-long hiatus was terminated with Crayon’s “The One.”
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“Colors” and “Royal” by Magixx round out an active quarter. Based on information gathered from various local record labels: The going rate for established artists and record companies to collaborate on a single is $35,000 on average.
This includes the expense of promoting your song on radio, television, digital marketing, influencer campaigns, clubs, and DJs. When you factor in the average $10,000 (not T.G Omori price o) music video expense, you get a cool $45,000 for a single campaign.
Mavins has run five campaigns in the last three months, spending an average of $225,000 on each release to work pop tracks and dominate the charts. The expense of a complete house for working singles is nearly $230,000, which they have covered with V.C funding from Kupanda.
Nigerian music requires a lot of money. Every step of the road is paved with billing, and every square inch of real estate is carved from strategic expenditure. Consider how difficult the competitive field is.
How the financial barrier to entry into the mass market is the most significant impediment to achieving your musical goals.
Without this war chest, aspiring musicians are left with only optimism. They’re hoping to locate a sponsor to cover this cost one day.
Either via major label signing, or an individual’s deep pocket.
In the first quarter of 2023, Mavin Records have spent an average of $225,000 on dropping music for artists on their roster.
The record label have released 7 records from 5 artists, with one from each artist worked through the system as a singles.
How? Why the high cost?
— Joey Akan (@JoeyAkan) March 28, 2023
Mavins started early. Boy Spyce charged out the gate with ‘Folake’ on January 25th.
2 weeks later, Ayra Starr’s “Sability” dropped on February 9.
Rema would come rushing in with “Holiday” and “Reason You,” barely 10 days later, on February 15.
— Joey Akan (@JoeyAkan) March 28, 2023
