When you talk about streaming and royalties, the question then becomes: where do brand partnerships and sponsorships come in? I’d say you can generally allocate about 5–10% to brand partnerships and activations, because that’s a significant part of how many artists succeed.
Of course, it varies by artist. Some have extremely strong streaming numbers — take Diamond Platnumz, for instance, who does huge numbers online — but that might not compare to someone like Burna Boy, whose streaming, touring, and brand presence all combine at a much larger scale. So the revenue mix is never uniform.
On average, you could think of it as something like 60% from touring and live shows, 20% from streaming, and 5–10% from brand partnerships and sponsorships. But again, it really depends on the structure of the artist’s deal. If they’re under a 360 deal, the label also shares in touring and merchandising revenue. If not, then earnings may come primarily from streaming, sponsorships, and activations. So it’s case by case, but brand partnerships are definitely a meaningful slice of the overall picture.
This piece first appeared in RegalStone’s Basslines to Billions: Nigeria’s Music Market Intelligence Report
