Why Nigerian Musicians Are Richer Than Nollywood Actors

The Nigerian music industry has been a gateway to success for most artists in contemporary times. This is because of the blitz and glitz that these musicians display in their musical contents and even in their everyday lives. Most of these artistes, especially the music stars, won’t stop showing their unimaginable wealth in the social media, which now leaves a lot of people wondering and asking why musicians seem to earn more than their counterparts in the movie industry, as the display of wealth is often not seen in actors and actresses.

Classic examples of Nigerian musicians who flaunt their wealth on social media by posting their fleet of exotic cars, private jet rides, mansion, designer fashion apparels and accessories are – Wizkid, Davido, Tekno, Timaya, P-square just to name a few.

While most music stars earn millions of Naira from just a music single, the maximum fee payable to some Nollywood actors or actresses has hovers between N150k and N250k on the average. Some stakeholders in the movie industry argue that most upcoming actors beg for roles in movies that would feature their A-list colleagues without being paid a dime.

There are reports that some even receive as low as N10k to appear in a film feature. While those that are constantly in demand or have won awards in the industry earn at most N250k per feature film, the rest are left with what industry experts would call ‘peanuts’.

Although this is with exception to the big-timers like Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Genevieve Nnaji, amongst a few others, who are said to receive their paychecks in millions of Naira.

In this report, THE WHISTLER tries to explain why the A-list Nigerian musicians live lavishly while their Nollywood counterparts appear to be living averagely.

CONCERT: Actors don’t hold shows or concerts, Nigerian artists rake in huge amount of income from shows and sold out concerts both in Nigeria and abroad.

TOUR: With just one or two music singles in their catalogue, some Nigerian musicians embark on international tours earning appearance fees in foreign currencies. Whereas actors and actresses don’t go on tours even though a few of them get paid for making appearances at certain events.

ENDORSEMENT: There is no doubt that both Nigerian musicians and actors get endorsement deals. But musicians appear to rake in endorsement deals in multi-million Naira because of their local and international exposure coupled with their huge social media fan base. On the other hand actors/actresses do get a sizable social media following, but their work usually get to be watched on screens which which somewhat limits their chances of getting endorsements as brands seem to trust in the musicians who gets more visibility more than the actors/actresses would.

STREAMING PLATFORMS: Not until recently have a few actors/actresses been able to get paid for their works when they are streamed on premium streaming platforms like Netflix, IrokoTv, NdaniTv and other on-demand movie streaming websites. On the contrary, Nigerian musicians have been getting paychecks for their crafts on music streaming websites iTunes, Spotify, Tidal, Youtube and the rest.

ROYALTIES: Artists earn royalties for each music sold and for each public performance made.

Even though the Nigerian musicians currently enjoy more financial reward for their craft than their Nollywood counterparts, better skilled film-makers and technology has helped improve the quality of movie production, and one would argue that in no time, the pay disparity will disappear as the Nigeria cinema culture continues to grows and emerging platforms and technologies provide movie makers new avenues to showcase and distribute their contents.