Popular singer Bella Shmurda has opened up about the rising performance fees among Nigerian musicians, attributing the costs to the significant expenses involved in their careers.
In an interview with Naija FM Lagos, the “Cash App” star explained that artists often pay numerous people behind the scenes from their performance earnings, including producers, songwriters, and engineers.
He also highlighted the high cost of music production, promotion, and maintaining a public lifestyle as contributing factors.
“Speaking from the perspectives of an artiste, making music is expensive. I don’t repeat clothes because I’m a public figure. I spent $100,000 to pay producers, songwriters and engineers that worked on my album. That’s over N100 million. Not to mention music videos and promotion costs. That’s a lot,” Bella Shmurda said.
He further defended performance fees, stressing that they reflect the need to recoup investments rather than overcharge fans.
“So, I go for a show, I would charge what would equate my investments. Even if I don’t make profit, I should at least be able to recover the cost of production. So, we are not overcharging. If you look at it from our own perspective, you will agree that we are not overcharging,” he added.
Bella Shmurda’s remarks shed light on the financial realities behind the music industry and the rationale for the fees charged by Nigerian artistes.
