If there is still any doubt about where the real money in Nigerian music lives, touring and live performances have settled the argument. Nigerian artists pulled in an estimated US$395 million from concerts, festivals, and tours across the 2024 to 2025 period, firmly positioning live shows as the economic engine of the industry.

The figures come from Basslines to Billions: Nigeria’s Music Market Intelligence Report, a landmark publication that attempts to do what few have done before, put hard numbers behind Nigeria’s fast-growing music economy. Developed through a collaboration between the National Council for Arts and Culture and RegalStone Capital, the report blends financial analysis with cultural context to map how money moves across the industry.

What stands out immediately is just how dominant physical performances have become. Live events accounted for roughly two-thirds of total artist earnings, a clear signal that Nigerian fans are still willing to pay for real-life experiences even in a digital age. Packed concerts, sold-out tours, and festival appearances have become the most reliable way for artists to earn at scale.

This surge reflects two major shifts happening at the same time. Locally, demand for live entertainment continues to grow as concerts become social events rather than just music shows. Globally, Nigerian artists are touring more aggressively, tapping into diaspora audiences and international festivals that pay significantly higher fees than local gigs.

Streaming platforms, while growing, remain a distant second. Digital streaming and virtual platforms generated an estimated US$181 million during the same period, contributing just under a third of total industry revenue. Streaming may offer visibility and long-term discovery, but for most Nigerian artists, it still does not compete with the immediate cash flow that comes from live performances.

This changing revenue mix is quietly reshaping power across the industry, especially when it comes to radio. Industry operators increasingly agree that traditional radio airplay no longer holds the financial influence it once did.

Chris Ubosi, Managing Director of Megaletrics Limited, which operates Classic FM, The Beat FM, and Naija FM, has pointed out that Nigeria’s radio royalty system lacks the transparency seen in more developed markets. According to him, most radio stations pay flat annual licensing fees to collection agencies rather than royalties tied directly to verified airplay data.

As a result, what gets played on radio does not necessarily translate into how much an artist earns. The data radio stations receive on artist performances often comes from external digital platforms such as Spotify or other publicly available sources. In practical terms, digital monetisation has moved far ahead of radio in determining artist income.

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Still, radio has not lost its relevance entirely. It remains a powerful discovery and promotional tool, particularly for reaching mass Nigerian audiences. Even globally successful artists like Wizkid and Burna Boy continue to engage radio stations through premieres and special programming, using radio as a visibility channel rather than a revenue driver.

Where things become more complicated is in the relationship between radio, local promoters, and live event platforms. Many top Nigerian artists are now signed to international touring companies such as Live Nation. These arrangements prioritise global touring schedules and earnings, often limiting how freely artists can be booked or promoted for domestic shows. For local promoters, this has made access to headline talent more restrictive and expensive.

From the talent management side, the numbers in the report largely reflect lived experience. Osita Ugeh, Chief Executive Officer of Duke Concept Entertainment, estimates that for most artists, the majority of income still comes from touring and live performances, with streaming contributing a smaller share and brand partnerships filling in the gaps. He notes that revenue mixes vary widely depending on the artist. Some acts perform exceptionally well on streaming platforms, while others combine touring, streaming, and brand deals at a much larger scale.

Beyond individual earnings, the report also places a valuation on the broader industry. Nigeria’s music sector was worth approximately ₦901 billion in 2024, roughly US$600 million, and is projected to grow to about ₦1.5 trillion by 2033 as the ecosystem matures and formalises further.

Streaming data helps explain why global interest in Nigerian music keeps rising, even if it does not yet pay as much as touring. Spotify’s 2024 Loud and Clear report reveals that Nigerian artists earned more than ₦58 billion in royalties in 2024, nearly five times the amount recorded in 2022 and more than double the previous year. These numbers point to rapid international discovery and expanding commercial reach.

Spotify also reports that Nigerian artists were discovered by first-time listeners over one billion times globally during the year, with nearly 1,900 artists landing placements on editorial playlists, a significant year-over-year increase. Discovery is no longer the problem. Monetisation remains the real challenge.

What the data ultimately makes clear is this: Nigerian music is booming, but the money flows unevenly. Touring and live performances remain the most powerful income stream, streaming continues to grow but lags behind, and traditional gatekeepers like radio now play a supporting role rather than a financial one. For artists, the future belongs to those who can turn global attention into sold-out venues, not just streams on a dashboard.

Meiza Nigeria