Ace Nigerian music producer, Osabuohien Osaretin, popularly known as Sarz, has said music streams from Nigeria generate far less income than streams from Western countries, even though promoting songs locally costs just as much.

Sarz made this known during a recent episode of the Afropolitan podcast, where he spoke on streaming revenue, marketing costs and the realities of working behind the scenes in the music industry.

“A million streams from the United States is maybe $3000-$5000..That same 1 million streams from Nigeria is arguably maybe $300-$500, but it will cost you the same amount to market or promote a song in Nigeria as much as it would cost you abroad,” he remarked.

Sarz explained that the disparity in revenue payments is due to economic reasons, stressing that subscribers in Western countries pay far more than Nigerians because they have better economies.

He noted that Nigerians love and desire to patronise music but lack the resources to afford premium subscriptions thereby making streams from Nigeria less economically valuable than Western countries.

Speaking further, Sarz said, “It’s funny if I say this, but in Nigeria, I haven’t received any residual income from my music from Nigeria. So as someone behind the music, as a producer, we’re only as good as the advance we get from the artists paying you for a beat.”

“For a long time, until Afrobeats became global, lots of times you’re literally at the mercy of the artists, mainly the artists too. If they feel like you’re important enough to be compensated more after they’ve paid you, that mercy is what helps you earn a living.”

He also spoke about how he decided to adapt rather than blame anyone.

“I don’t think my destiny is tied on anyone. I can’t blame myself for being here in Nigeria, and I can’t blame myself for being in the situation. I have to figure it out, so you just have to find ways to make things work.”

Sarz added that the situation pushed him to diversify beyond production work.

“So this is why I started making my own music, DJing, trying different things, then collaborative albums, dabble into signing artists. You just can’t be someone behind the music and just do that here. I think you have to do more to make things work.”

On the way forward, Sarz said, “We [Nigerian entertainers and executives] are waiting for the state of the country to get better so other things can start improving.

“I think we have done very well with the resources that we have and with all the obstacles against us.

“I mean, people are streaming music, the people that can’t stream, can’t afford it. But people listen to music across the country and if they can’t afford streaming, it just means that they don’t have the money to.

“And how do we empower them? Back to the government. So, we are just waiting till the economy gets better.”

He, however, noted that things have improved with Afrobeats gaining more ground outside Africa.

“It’s better now, though. There’s a big market for Afrobeats outside the continent, so it’s way better than it used to be.”