Afrobeats decline or a sloppy year for the music industry?- No breakout superstar yet!

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

As at the time of this writing, no new artiste has emerged into the mainstream market. There has been a decline in the unraveling of talented youngsters in the music industry. Aside from the decline in the number of burgeoning recording artistes, there also has been an underwhelming performance from the music industry in general.

In October 2024, there is still no smash songs, no groundbreaking hits. The modern songs are forgettable and they have no replay value.

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Will There Be A Next Big Thing In The Music Industry?

In the 2010s, an influx of young superstars burst in the music scene- musician Wizkid quickly came into the scene with the debut single, “Holla at your boy”, he went on to carve a niche for himself, and creating an iconic music career with the album, Superstar.

The music album influenced an entire generation and immediately turned Wizkid into an immediate icon. Artistes such as Davido, Burna Boy, Ycee, Adekunle Gold, amongst several others came into the scene and had an immediate impact.

By the 2020s, a new crop of sensational talents such as Omah Lay, Buju, Tems, Rema and Ayra Starr shared their skillset with the world and they have since gone on to attain mainstream prominence. However, at the commencement of 2023, some artistes began to struggle to make their presence felt, musicians such as Mavin’s Banani, DMW’s Morravey, Logos Olori, Ayo Maff, to name a few. In the last one year, no burgeoning artiste has had that influential sing that would shook the entire music industry and raise eyebrows. The music from fledgling artistes has been relatively ‘safe’, not too bad neither is it impressive, it’s just lukewarm.

It’s disheartening this decline is coming barely two years after Afrobeats became the biggest export from Nigeria and Africa. Superstars such as Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy have gone on to attain mainstream success on the international stage, however, the Nigerian music scene has been unable to produce another superstar.

What’s The Way Forward?

Continuity.

Yes, the creatives and artistes must continue to churn out content, music and their sound. They mustn’t give up or disregard their craft simply because they are not receiving the attention they think they deserve. This isn’t the time to fallback and play the blame game, instead artistes must go into the studio and continue working on what something the audience loves.

Strategy.

It’s time for record labels to become more strategic in their approach; they cannot keep doing the same thing. While artistes create the songs, the management should put their ears to the streets and listen to what the audience want to hear.

Further, they must follow trends and know how to make use of social media and digital marketing to promote the content to an ideal audience.

In conclusion, new artistes must come to an understanding that they are not the only personalities who are in the music industry, hence, success isn’t guaranteed. They should accept that they are competing against both an older and a younger generation, hence, they must be something refreshing- new style, youthful vibes, and elements that can enthrall listeners with ease, not easy, but it must be discovered. There is work to be done, record labels alongside their artistes need to roll up their sleeves and produce their best pen game.

This is just the beginning.