You may not know this but since 2018, YouTube has been partnering with various Nigerian artistes to offer them different kinds of support on their individual music journey. This support ranges from distribution to workshops and content creation sessions to experimenting with content formats on the platform.
“We are very excited to partner with these amazing artists to support their journey as their music travels across borders and they expand their audience globally. YouTube has been a mainline for African artists to connect with people all over the world, from Yemi Alade’s “Johnny” hitting over 100 million views on YouTube or Davido’s “Fall” at over 150 million views, there is no doubt that global audiences are dancing to an African beat,” says Addy Awofisayo, YouTube Content Partnership Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Here is a list of these artists and what they have done with with the platform to provide insights into how these partnerships are affecting the music industry. Check them out:
Burna Boy: Back in November 2018, YouTube featured Burna Boy as its “Artiste on the Rise”, the first of such collaborations for the brand in Nigeria. Burna was treated to a special event where he interacted with media as well as a feature video which YouTube internationally. He was also featured on billboards in various cities in the US. All of that has contributed to the mega year Burna Boy has had.
Mr Eazi: YouTube collaborated with Eazi for its “Artist Spotlight Stories” series earlier this year in February 2019, the second Nigerian artist to be featured after Burna Boy. The platform also worked on an activation campaign for the second installment of Mr Eazi’s “Lagos To London” project.
Tiwa Savage: For her first official single since she signed to Universal Music, Tiwa Savage collaborated with the video streaming platform on the distribution of her hit song, “49-99”. She also got billboards across the US and notably, Times Square.
Rema: YouTube has worked with Rema for its international artiste development program called “Foundry”. His projects have been featured on YouTube Music and just a few weeks ago, he was already seen chilling with American superstar Jaden Smith.
This week, YouTube also announced that it will be working with four more Nigerian artistes: Kizz Daniel, Simi, Teni Entertainer and Reekado Banks. The Google-owned company will be providing the artists with the tools to propel their music, grow their presence on YouTube and accelerate the growth of their audience globally.
None of these acts are signed to major labels unlike Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage and Rema, perhaps pointing at YouTube’s confidence in working with artistes that don’t necessarily have big label backing.