Business in Nigeria - Entertainment

The entertainment industry in Nigeria is a fast growing one, with many opportunities springing up for budding entrepreneurs, artists and their managers as well as other stake holders, it is estimated to generate revenues of over $2 billion annually.

It spans movie, film and music production, comedy and events management, modeling and beauty pageantry among others. Prior to 1998, the entertainment industry in Nigeria was very modest with musicians, actors and models being satisfied with just fame, with very little interests from investors.

However following the successful management of Nigeria’s hottest music group at the time (Remedies) and the international breakthrough of 2face Idibia in 2004, entertainment has become big business with many Nigerian artistes raking in millions of naira monthly, a situation which was unthinkable about 15 years ago.

Other business interests like cinemas, night clubs, reality TV, Talent hunts and dance competitions are very common and are lucrative ventures in Nigeria.

Areas of entertainment business

The money spinners in entertainment business are events planning and film making. Events planning covers planning and packaging of weddings, concerts, talent shows, fashion shows, comedy shows among others.

Film making involves video production, presentation and visual effects. Also photography is part of film making. Many business interests are springing up and taking their place with film making.

Notable film makers doing business in Nigeria include Tunde kelani, DJ Tee, IGHO, Clarence Peters and Jude Okoye. Besides these areas, record sales for some musicians has also turned out to be very lucrative with platinum record selling artistes like Tony Tetuila, Olu maintain, Timaya, 2face, Faze, 9ice, D’banj, Dare and p-square selling several million copies of their albums.

However, most musicians usually new generation hip hop and R&B inclined artistes make the bulk of their money from entertainment shows and events in the form of performance fees and corporate endorsements. In this class D’banj, 2face, Banky W, P-square, KC Presh, 9ice and Faze earn hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

Some notable veterans performing local music genre like Sunny Ade, Pasuma Wonder, K-1 de ultimate and Zakky Adzee have been successful and smiling to the banks as well.

There is also the world of stand up comedy and humour. The best paid comedians in Nigeria earn not less than N 1,000,000 ($7,000) for single day shows usually less than an hour.

In this class are the likes of Alibaba, Basket Mouth and Julius Agwu. Other well known but slightly lesser paid comedians include I go die, Gandoki, AY, Omobaba NO 1 and Gbenga Adeyinka (I). Industry businesses

The major players in the entertainment industry are record labels, movie producers and film makers, marketers and distributors of film and video products as well as event planners.

Some names that readily ring bells are Kennis Music and Primetime Entertainment (D-1 and Keke), Storm Records (Obi Asika), Next Level Entertainment, sound city, Nigezie, Cool fm, Silverbird entertainment, GDC, Capital Records Nite of a thousand laughs (Jackson Obaseki), Chico Ejiro, Genevieve Nnaji, Kate Henshaw - Nuttal, Nkem Owor and 2face.

Industry bodies

The national film and video censors board oversees standards and regulates film and video productions in Nigeria. It is currently being led by Emeka Mba.

The Performing musicians association of Nigeria (PMAN) is the umbrella union of all performing musicians in Nigeria. It ensures that its members’ rights are not infringed upon by shylocks or other potential exploiters including record labels and marketers.

Also there is the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN), which maintains acting standards in Nigeria among other associations.

Opportunities and strengths

The abundance of talents and Nigerian music lovers preferring their own movie and music to their foreign counterparts has been a major source of inspiration to many artistes and businessmen.

Also the fact that many Nigerian businesses have come to see entertainment as a way of promoting their products and services now means more revenue can be generated for the industry in the coming years. The ever rising demand is becoming obvious as keen competition is promising improved standards and further patronage for that sector.

Trends in the industry

A number of foreign acts of Nigerian descent like Banky W, Alaye, D’banj, May7even and Sauce kid have returned home to improve the music industry just as many others are showing signs of returning.

The music industry is currently being dominated by artistes who play a local genre of music called naija hip hop which is a fusion of American hip hop with Nigerian lyrical contents or melody.

Corporate bodies are becoming more interested in promoting local artistes as a way of reaching the local market. More talents are being discovered and promoted just as the industry is yet to reach its expected potential.

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