Money & Music: The Artist Who'd Sabotaged Job Interviews for Music

This is Money & Music, a weekly feature that chronicles the monetary intricacies of pursuing a career in music. Here, I speak to self-sufficient creatives in the music industry about the place of money in their career at relative points. Everyone has a unique budget, story, approach in navigating the tricky waters of the music business. In all, this is also lacing context to the platitudes that are bandied about regarding the “music business being a capital intensive venture”.

When is your earliest memory of deciding to make music a serious endeavour?

That must be 2016 when I realized I’m really good at writing, singing, listening and mimicking people’s songs. Also, as I didn’t like Accounting, I was doing it for the sake of just doing it.

Did it by any chance deter you from furthering your education?

No, I told myself that I wasn’t just going to get the degree but I’ll ace it because I can read and understand, so why not? I’m one of those people that just wanted to get it out of the way, not sabotaging it because I love music. 

Did your parents have concerns about you pursuing music?

Well, I didn't really make it public. If I wanted to do a concert or attend music shows in school, I’m usually hush about it. I kept it well enough from everybody while in school and when I finished, they were not totally with the idea of me doing music full-time.

Now out of school, how was it convincing your parents?

My dad really wanted me to do the corporate thing. Ironically, during school breaks, he’ll discourage me from interning anywhere. He’d rather I read even while on holiday, so I never got to experience the corporate world or gather anything else along the way, just a degree. He eventually let me do music but because I was stubborn - I mean, he’d put me on to job interviews and I’ll sabotage them because I really want to do music. I felt all the money used in doing those connect should’ve been put into my music career. He eventually budged, giving me about N70,000 to start a guitar lesson.

Interesting, how did that go?

It was basic training that lasted for three months because I couldn't further it for certain reasons. It's been me and the internet now.

When did it hit you that music is quite capital intensive?

I think I knew since my school days because every time I wanted to do something music-related, I either ended up asking my mom to give me money or if she could drive me to some auditions I’d attempted then. I already knew I would need money for this. At 20, I’d started paying for sessions though very cheap. 

What are your views about having a job presently?

I’m actually not in the zone of not wanting to do 9-5. I’m very open to jobs, I freelance presently and I believe 9-5 isn't as bad as people make it seem. My epiphany happened earlier, so I think I’ve not encountered any serious stress. I am trying, though I haven’t gotten to a point where what I make is enough for my music. It's really just me trying to get on my feet first before allocating that much into music.

Is there an action plan to reach that point?

I’ve been doing it piece by piece because I believe everybody should start what they can with what they have. I’m not someone trying to save N1m to push an EP. I’ve just been putting stuff out; if I have N10,000, I’ll promote my page, if I have N50,000, I’ll shoot a viral video etc. That's how I’ve been running it in the last 2 years. It's different for me every time, I work with new strategies per period but so far, that's what I’ve been doing. 

How many releases do you do yearly?

The frequency that I aspire for is one single per quarter or two projects per year. I haven’t really followed up, I just hope I get there eventually. For now, I’ve been releasing as the spirit leads because I’m neither buoyant enough nor well structured. I’m not organized as it may seem; I tend to do things according to how the music comes, so that I don't release things that are subpar. I just go with my flow, not anyone else’s.

What runs through your mind before deciding it's time to drop a song, pending how you navigate your career presently?

First, I check what people are listening to and try to do the opposite of that. I google a lot of Top 10 stuff about things to do before a release. I do that a lot because trends change and you may need to do something differently with every release. For my first release, I did some things differently and before I released my first single in 2020, I already knew a lot of new things by watching Youtube videos. I scrutinize every single detail from checking online to checking myself before knowing it's time.

Do you feel shaken by this shortage of funds?

Of course, that's one of the reasons I didn’t drop my EP last year. I wanted to drop one last year but when I thought about not having N150,000 to shoot a fair video, or money to subscribe to this platform for distribution, or money to pay for editorials and all, I reclined. After my small calculations, I was already seeing over N500k-N1m. Many times, it’s money that's restraining me from putting out music. 

Now, let's go through your average expense, going by your last [priority] release

That would be my 5-track EP released in 2019 (because I only released one single in 2020 and it was all pro-bono - from distribution to artwork). I would say I put a lot of money into that EP because I was working at the time. 

Beat, Recording, Engineering - N150,000 (paid in bits + I got one for free)

Artwork/motion graphics - N10,000

Photoshoot - N15,000

Distribution - N10,000 yearly membership

Promotion - Facebook, IG, Twitter ads <N20,000

Radio, Playlisting - I reached out to radio stations and got responses from stations in Abia, Uyo saying they liked the music but no play really. A station in Ketu asked me to pay a token of N10,000.

How do you budget for a release?

Nothing crazy. I do “I can’t do more than this amount” because I have other things I’m doing with money.

Is branding a part of your investment yet?

There was a time I didn’t care but going farther into music, you realize the things you have to do. Then, it used to be about N5,000 every 3-4 weeks because I have to buy what I buy for my hair. The investment has increased overtime; buying clothes, shoes, accessories etc. is now in the picture. See, I try!

Do you think of some contingency plan?

I would have loved for music to be everything for me but I think it's impossible to have one thing that takes your whole day, especially at this time. When I work, I am still able to split time between freelancing, writing music and recording in the evening. I was just able to balance it somehow. However, I'm going to be a music artist till I die and I’ll continue to push it till I blow and make money from it. Anything that I do asides that, I don't say it out except in my diary or people I closely interact with.

Is there anything you need that would better your career that you probably can't afford?

That would be a conducive recording space because it's one thing to know how to sing, and have equipment at your disposal but it's another thing to be able to put those tools in a place that’ll allow them to work optimally.

How happy are you so far?

I’d say 7/10. I’ve seen that though I’m not where I want to be, I have still achieved so much in the past 4 years. I’m not the same person as when I started, I know so much and I have so much that I didn't have then. I’m closer to opportunities I’ve never dreamt of, so it's something for me whether or not my name is public. 

How much do you think you need to cut through the noise in the Nigerian music industry?

With 2 Million, I’m good to go. I can put the money in the right hands. I believe it's also less of how much money and more of who you’re entrusting the money to. First thing would be getting a good A&R, a publicist, one good producer and engineer and digital marketer that comes recommended. My thing is assigning professionals with what they can do with that amount and then we pick the best songs and find what to do with them. There’s no way it wont work except village people and some things.

Right; what’s the first thing you’ll do if handed this N2 million though?

Call my acting manager because I can't make all these decisions myself. As an artist, I might be too happy and buy some things I do not need.

Read previous episode here

Also read: Climbing the Music Business Ladder - with Godwin Tom

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