Since its launch in Nigeria in 2001, ICT company, MTN has continuously displayed its knack for innovation and value creation for its customers. Besides empowering and supporting the youth through a series of initiatives, MTN has continued to show its dedication to spearheading value creation in the entertainment industry.
MTN Nigeria is easily one of the biggest distributors of music in Nigeria. How does an ICT company become a top music distributor? The Nigerian entertainment industry is largely a self-starter industry, with Nigerians putting their skills and talents to creating value and a better life for themselves.
The telecommunications industry is also in a competitive space, so, when MTN needed to distinguish itself, it tapped into an area of great interest for the general populace – music.
CallerTunez – In 2008, MTN launched Caller Tunez, consequently creating the largest music distribution network in Nigeria at the time and an avenue for artistes to monetize their music. With Callertunez, MTN users could get access to a wide range of music by simply paying a
token. It became popular and by 2013, there were already 17 million subscribers on the platform, with over 12,000 callertunez to choose from.
Ambassadorship: MTN is also popular for leveraging the popularity of Nigerian artistes to promote its brand. This has become a symbiotic relationship between the ICT company and Nigerian artistes. The artistes get major visibility from the MTN brand, and promote the image of the company. Several popular artistes have been MTN Nigeria ambassadors, including Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Davido, Falz and Praiz.
Talent shows – The music talent show, Project Fame, sponsored by MTN Nigeria, featured contestants from across West Africa. Launched in 2008, Project Fame ran for 9 years till 2016, and was hugely successful, creating superstars of participants. The show introduced some of the biggest names in the Nigerian music industry t including Chidinma, Iyanya and Praiz.
Development of Classical Music– MTN Nigeria has through its Foundation, promoted the learning and practice of classical music in Nigeria. Since 2006, MTN Foundation has collaborated with MUSON School of Music, to sponsor talented young Nigerians to study at the MUSON School of Music. Each year since 2006, MUSON graduates a minimum of 30 students fully sponsored by the MTN Foundation. This is an area of music not very popular in Nigeria, yet the company has stayed through to its ideals of brightening the lives of young Nigerians.
Through its Foundation, MTN has also affected the lives of future classical music scholars who might not have had the opportunity to learn and refine their talent. Many of the graduates of the MTNF-MUSON programme have become success stories.
Music Time – MTN launched music streaming platform Music Time! in 2019, with a unique payment structure. Users can listen to a wide range of music without subscription and internet access. They only pay for the time spent listening to music on the platform. Aware of the great interest Nigerians have in music, and the inability of some Nigerians to afford high internet rates, MTN flipped the payment structure.
By making listeners pay for music on the go, MTN synced the airtime payment model, which users are already familiar with on its music platform.
MTN Y’ello Star – This year, MTN launched Y’ello Star, a music reality project with a difference. With Y’ello Star, MTN is empowering Nigerian youths, by providing an opportunity for growth and talent discovery. This departs from the winner takes all structure of reality talent shows, by providing an equal opportunity for all participants to benefit from the many advantages of the project.
Y’ello Star judges include Banky W, Omawumi and multi Grammy award winning producer, Malik Yusef. The show is hosted by former Big Brother Naija housemate Tobi Bakre and actress Hilda Baci.
