African artistes need to stop being obsessed with money

Nigerian music executive Motolani Alake has urged African artistes, particularly those from West Africa, to reassess how they value their music and approach business negotiations in the industry.

In an interview on Hitz FM on July 1, 2025, Alake expressed concern over what he described as an unrealistic obsession with money that many African musicians have, especially when negotiating deals involving their music catalogues.

According to him, many artistes walk into meetings asking for millions of dollars for catalogues that barely generate any revenue.

“African artistes, especially West African artists, need to stop being obsessed with money that makes no sense. Your entire catalogue cannot be making $1,000 or $5,000, and you’re asking for a million dollars,” he said.

Motolani went on to say that the essence of any business deal is for it to be mutually beneficial. He noted that some artistes appear to misunderstand the value of their work and walk into negotiations with inflated expectations, which can ruin genuine business opportunities.

“The entire concept of a deal that makes sense is that it makes sense for everybody,” he stated.

He advised artistes to conduct market research before heading into negotiations. He explained that even top-level musicians with decades of experience still take the time to study trends and data before putting out new work or entering deals.

“I think people need to do market research. I know a big artist, a legendary artist in Nigeria right now that is about to release an album, and what he’s currently doing is market research. If an OG like that is doing market research. What goes into that is understanding the sound, understanding the palettes, studying data, studying the change in attitude, studying social media, studying marketing tactics. Understanding what operates, talking to his friends that have done certain types of deals,” Alake explained.

He noted that artistes should walk into meetings knowing the true value of their work and be realistic about what they ask for, rather than chasing figures that aren’t backed by data.

“If you’re going to walk into a room, you need to know exactly what you’re walking into. I think a lot of people don’t do that. They just open their mouth and ask for a million. The way African artists ask for a million dollars is just insane. Everybody wants a million dollars,” he added.

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