Afrobeats singer Abiola Ahmed Akinbiyi, popularly known as Bella Shmurda, has voiced his concern about the skyrocketing costs of music promotion, saying the trend is discouraging many Nigerian artists from releasing new projects, especially full albums.
In an interview with Naija FM Lagos, the Cash App crooner explained that financial limitations are forcing artists to focus more on singles, as the cost of producing and promoting larger projects continues to rise.
Bella Shmurda noted that promoting an album, which typically includes 10 to 14 tracks, demands a significantly larger budget than a single song.
He outlined the costly components, such as radio airplay and music video production, revealing that the baseline cost for a single music video has skyrocketed to N20 million.
He said: “To release an album, you need a huge budget, unlike singles. Because for albums, you’re promoting 10 to 14 songs all at once. It’s a lot.
“Promoting songs on the radio, shooting videos for five, six songs, is a lot. These days, the least you can spend on a music video is N20 million. So, how many artists can afford to shoot five videos?”
He attributed these rising costs to Nigeria’s economic challenges, including inflation, which has inflated production and promotional expenses.
