music documentation is contributing to the growth of Nigerian music

Due to a lack of adequate documentation, decades of music consumption and its attendant components have been lost. Little is known about the number of albums sold by great Nigerian artists, and there is barely adequate data to quantify their reach and success.

This problem of inadequate documentation has painfully plagued the industry for decades, even into the 2010s.

To the delight of Nigerians and music lovers all around the world, the issue of lack of documentation in the Nigerian music industry is becoming a thing of the past.

Leading this massive change is a company called Turntable Media, Data, and Analytics, which took the bold step to begin documenting music consumption across multiple platforms in Nigeria.

Today, the company operates the foremost music chart in Nigeria that combines streaming numbers with radio and TV airplay for an aggregate chart that accurately reflects music consumption in Nigeria.

This article takes a look at the problem of a lack of documentation and the efforts in correcting it.

There’s not a lot of data that can be referred to when analyzing the history of consumption, success, and consumer behavior in Nigerian music.

Despite the strides recorded in Nigerian music from the 1960s through the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, there’s grossly insufficient data that captures the record sales, reach, and success of the music.

I spoke with a music curator, writer, and executive Ayomide Tayo on the impact of the lack of documentation in Nigerian music and he tells me that it robbed an entire generation of the contextual history in the evolution of Nigerian music.

“I think it has affected the industry negatively because there was a lack of contextual meaning in the history of Afrobeats from the 60s to the 2010s. While we know the names of Fela Kuti, Sunny Ade, Sunny Okosun, and the like, we don’t know how big they were, the records they sold, the size of their foreign listeners, and their cultural impacts.”

He further told me that the little records available are scattered into different private collections which don’t offer a holistic or sufficient representation of the exploits of the artists and their music.

Individuals interested in learning about the music of that era and the waves it made are left to rely on oral history or foreign documentation that doesn’t retain the Nigerian context.

I had the privilege of speaking with a veteran music journalist Osagie Alonge on the impact of the lack of documentation in Nigerian music and as he simply puts it, the inability to access a good collection of the music released before digitalization is evidence of lack of documentation.

“One way to look at it is that if you can’t successfully pull out data for the music released in the 60, the 70s, and 80s then there has been poor documentation.”

He further exposited that while the media houses operating had the time to document the music developments, these materials have not been digitized and the historical documents are either lost or hard to access.

Osagie stated that the lack of poor documentation has robbed the industry of historical materials that could serve as a reference point for future development as well as educational materials for industry.

The lack of documentation has obscured the rich history of Nigerian music and painfully reduced the reverence and appreciation such knowledge would have inspired.

Turntable Media, Data, and Analytics was founded in 2019 by Ayomide Oriowo and Simisola Adegoke, who saw the need for a company that collects music consumption data in Nigeria and translates it into music charts.

Before Turntable Charts, music consumption in Nigeria was roughly captured by the different charts of radio and TV stations, as well as music blogs. These charts didn’t contain streaming data and were also limited to the preferences of the curators. Hence, they were not completely reflective of consumer behavior in Nigerian music.

According to Kayode Babatola, who is Turntable Charts’ Head of Chart, streaming platforms account for 50% while TV and radio account for 50%.

Together, they offer accurate documentation of music consumption in Nigeria, which is updated weekly to keep up with consumer preferences.

Turntable Charts’ success in collecting music consumption data across all relevant channels in Nigeria is a massive turning point for the industry, where a lack of data meant that artists and labels could not adequately capture the popularity and patronage of their projects.

Thanks to the Charts, the history of not being able to use data to tell what the best-selling songs of a particular era were is becoming a thing of the past.

Also, record labels and music streaming platforms are coming together to support Turntable by providing them with data that will further increase the charts’ accuracy.

Today, there exists a chart that documents the best-performing songs and albums in Nigeria across all genres and the best-performing artists. The artists are presented with plaques when their songs reach the summit of the chart. This offers an avenue for milestones to be celebrated, as is done in advanced music industries.

Aside the efforts of TurnTable chart, media houses are reporting and documenting the developments and milestones in Nigerian music. Unlike in the past, there’s information on the trends and impact of Nigerian music and artists across the world.

Osagie Alonge echoed the words of the sage of the Historical School of Law Friedrich Carl von Savigny who wrote on the importance of history in shaping society.

“Without history, we won’t know where we are coming from and where we are going. This means that we get to repeat the same mistake that has been made in the past because we don’t get to learn from it,” Osagie tells me of the attendant dangers that come with lack of documentation.

The importance of collecting music consumption data cannot be overemphasized. For an industry on the rise, such data assists foreign investors in quantifying the marketing and understanding the investment potential it holds. This will invariably increase both direct and portfolio foreign investment into the music industry, which will translate into more revenue and job creation.

Speaking on the importance of music documentation Ayomide Tayo stated that music it’s vital to the success of Nigerian music, especially at a time when Afrobeats is on an ascension.

“We need documentation and data that can capture the consumption and growth of Nigerian music. This data is important in projecting the growth and potential of Afrobeats for the next 50 years. A lot of what we are doing now is guesswork so we need documentation and data.”

Music consumption data helps us understand the consumption behavior of consumers, which allows artists to know which areas they hold sway in and where they need to improve.

Music consumption data can assist award bodies in better understanding the songs that resonate most with the audience and ensuring deserving artists get awarded.

With data collection, the Nigerian music industry can have a recognized chart system that’s on par with the global patronage and growth of its music industry. The data can also provide the framework for future certification of songs, which will further capture the success of a record.

Osagie Alonge cogently pointed out that while documentation is now relatively easy because of technology, there must be an effort to ensure that this documentation is accurate.

“Everything can be stored in the cloud now so documentation is relatively easy. However, we need to ensure that this documentation is accurate so we don’t have erroneous and overly contradictory information 50 years from now.”

By and large, steps are being taken to improve documentation in Nigerian music. However, there’s still a lot to be done to ensure that important and accurate information is preserved and passed down to future generations.