Nelsun

Big Announcement Four months ago, I set out to document my thoughts and experiences on Artist Development into a result oriented guide for artists, executives and professionals in the music business. Today, I’m excited to announce that the book ARTIST DEVELOPMENT: MOVING FROM GOOD TO VALUABLE is officially out! This 370-page book is a structured compendium of relevant content that can help artists grow and become productivity; guided by creativity, timeless principles, and proven management concepts. But beyond the book, this is also the beginning of a bigger vision: the journey towards the establishment of the Imerge Creative Hub (ICH), Lagos. The ICH will be a community based environment and marketplace where emerging creatives in the music business can create affordably, collaborate and achieve their goals seamlessly. Proceeds from this book will go towards making that dream a reality. I’m calling on the creative community and every stakeholder in the music business to support this vision with goodwill and solidarity by way of purchase of this book. To God be the Glory. 👉 Get the eBook (₦10,000): selar.com/artistdevelopm… 👉 Order the Hard Copy (₦15,800): tinyurl.com/artistdevelopm…

I like this version of Gun Boat than any other. It has been tested to be viable. I can argue that his career could have gained significant momentum if the energy and passion he had on “7am in jones” and “in the beginning” was sustained with back to back releases, creative content and leveraging on his community-which was active at a time. David Snow has so much to offer, and I believe that the rawness of his story and worldview delivered with this energy is that sound that will make a path for him in music.

@LLeemahscorner Happy birthday.

Update: 36.

Hi everyone, my friend, my partner, my guy is in a critical condition and we need your help. He has been diagnosed with a brain tumour and needs a first urgent surgery to survive tonight. Please help me save him. Gofundme- gofund.me/a99426f7f Account details - 4587626014 Fcmb Agegenu Timothy Thona #saveunclemo

Artistes who know how to use simple things to attract and retain attention will always have an advantage over those who rely solely on talent but operate with basic content creativity. People may not immediately connect with the former’s music, but their passion, branding, authenticity, and energy are often compelling enough to earn them the attention and opportunities that matter. Meanwhile, the latter may create better music yet struggle to gain attention or acceptance because they fail to communicate the value of their music in a way that captures their market. The creative elements that make an Artiste truly valuable cannot simply be taught. The Artiste needs to possess a strong conviction in what they represent and developing the ability to present themselves and their music in distinctive ways that resonate with their target audience. EFMoon is here to stay.

As an emerging Artiste, branding has little to do with how expensive you look. It is about how well you package your value as an Artiste and entertainer, in a way that makes you more appealing and clearly distinguished from everyone else competing for your audience’s attention. Being able to use even the most basic resources and element to consistently build a reputation for value, preference, and attention is the key. As an emerging Artiste, focus on creating a strong brand, not on overspending to create the illusion of one. Competitive advantage comes from perceived value, not necessarily from expensive aesthetics.

@henreechestnut 🙌

@Adapioyi Mister Gems!

Branding.

One mistake many emerging producers make is treating every production opportunity as a one time transaction. If an emerging Artiste cannot afford your full production fee today, it doesn’t always mean you should walk away. Sometimes, the better business decision is to invest in the relationship-especially when the Artiste has prospect. Instead of insisting on full upfront payment, negotiate a smaller fee (the Artiste can afford now) and secure producer points (a percentage of the master recording royalties). If the Artiste eventually breaks through, your earnings from those points could far exceed what you would have collected as a one time production fee. Beyond producer points, both parties should also execute proper split sheets to document songwriting and composition ownership. This ensures everyone receives the publishing royalties they are entitled to. This approach transforms the producer from a freelancer into a stakeholder in the Artiste’s success. For emerging producers, the odds of immediately landing major Artistes are relatively low. Rather than waiting endlessly for a “big break,” or charging high fees most emerging Artistes can’t pay, build your portfolio by collaborating with talented emerging Artistes whose careers have strong potential. Every great Artiste starts somewhere, and so do the producers who grow with them. The music ecosystem gets better when producers balance short term cash flow ,with long term value creation in their work with emerging Artistes.

@TheKevinAsaju @RecordingAcad Congratulations

A seat at the table. Grateful to join the @RecordingAcad 2026 New Member Class. The work continues 🌍🏆🇳🇬 #IAmTheAcademy

Kudos to the team that put this together, it is really insightful and revelatory.

One of the biggest mistakes emerging Artistes make during a rollout is assuming that awareness automatically leads to engagement. But often times it doesn’t. As an emerging Artiste, you must be highly intentional about how you let people know that you have new music. Posting on social media, running ads, or uploading a teaser simply informs people that a song exists. It does not necessarily give them a reason to listen. An invitation is more powerful than a notification. Before your release, make the effort to send direct messages, make phone calls, send emails, collect contacts, and personally invite people to be part of the release. When someone receives a personal invitation, they are far more likely to pay attention because they feel included rather than merely advertised to. This is why every emerging Artiste should build a contact database before releasing music. Every new fan, supporter, DJ, content creator, blogger, media personality, and industry professional you meet should become part of your rollout network. More importantly, identify the people whose engagement creates more engagement. These include: * People with influence and platforms. * Early adopters who enjoy discovering new music. * Industry gatekeepers. * Community leaders and opinion shapers. When these people listen, share, review, or publicly engage with your music, they create social proof. Their actions signal to others that your music is worth paying attention to, encouraging passive audiences to engage as well. A result oriented rollout is not built on notifications alone, but also on; intentional invitations, strategic relationships, and personal outreach. Don’t just announce your music. Invite people into the experience.

One of the reasons is that we now have too many Record Labels with weak vision,weak structure, and limited global capacity. Afrobeats has grown to a point where taking an Artiste from local success to global superstardom requires far more than talent. It demands; capital, international partnerships, data driven marketing, touring infrastructure, media relationships, and strategic execution. The quality of talent has never been the problem. Based on research by the @Imergination team, the average Nigerian emerging Artiste today is significantly more refined and better equipped than the previous generation. Yet, many of the institutions responsible for scaling that talent have not evolved at the same pace. This is why Nigeria needs stronger, more consolidated Record Labels. Just as the banking sector underwent recapitalization and consolidation in the early 2000 to build stronger institutions capable of competing at a higher level, the music industry may also benefit from strategic mergers among smaller labels and the optimization of bigger ones through deeper affiliations with global partners. The next global Afrobeats breakout may depend less on discovering exceptional talent and more on building exceptional institutions around that talent.

As an emerging Artiste, until and unless the music you make is perceived to be needed and useful by the people you are marketing it to, you will not attract any reward or useful validation. Don’t just be good, be valuable.

If you’re an emerging Artiste and you haven’t performed at a single event in the last three to four months, there’s likely something fundamentally wrong with your plan, approach, or strategy. You’re in the show business. No matter how much content you post online or how much effort you put into growing your audience digitally, performing in front of real people is a critical part of your growth. A lack of performance opportunities is often a signal that your growth and effort isn’t translating into real-world demand. As your visibility and relevance increase, they should gradually create opportunities for show promoters, event organizers, brands, campuses, lounges, churches, communities, and other platforms to invite you to perform. If that isn’t happening, it’s worth evaluating why. For Artistes based in Lagos especially, going three or four months without performing should be a concern. Every weekend presents opportunities to get your music in front of people. If your environment doesn’t naturally provide performance opportunities, then become innovative. Create modular events around yourself. Organize listening sessions, pop-up performances, community showcases, collaborations with other Artistes, or intimate live experiences where people can connect with your music in real time. Live performances do more than entertain. They sharpen your stagecraft, deepen your relationship with fans, generate word-of-mouth marketing, create valuable content, attract industry attention, and reveal what your audience truly responds to. An emerging Artiste cannot afford to exist only online. The internet may introduce people to your music, but live performances build believers.

The best type of motion you can gain as an emerging Artiste is that which makes you attractive to other Artistes. When You begin to gain motion and virality as an emerging Artiste, yet bigger Artistes with influence aren’t reaching out to collaborate or share their platforms with you, that’s a signal that your motion may likely be scalar (magnitude with no direction).

A lot of emerging Artiste attribute their inability to build a team to lack of money. But if you are an emerging Artiste who has been doing music for close to 3 years and is unable to build a solid team, it is more often than not a character and people-skills issue than lack of resources. Your inability to inspire confidence, influence people, communicate your vision, and express your creativity in a way that makes others believe in you enough to contribute their skill, time and resources to help you succeed has a lot to do with your character, personality and worldview. And until you look inward and fix up, you will continue to find it difficult to attract and retain quality people. Achieving significant results in music as an Artiste often requires leveraging the strengths, skills, and efforts of other people. Just like behind every great movie is a crew that worked behind the scene, no one builds anything meaningful alone. As an emerging Artiste, you may not have abundant financial resources, but you must develop the ability to attract people to your vision, align them around a common goal, and build a team that can help execute it. Money certainly helps, but before people invest their time, talent, and energy in your journey, they first need to believe in you. Don’t just be good, be valuable.

The Three Pillars of Strategy in the Music Business Strategy in the music business rests on three fundamental pillars: 1. Where you compete 2. How you compete 3. How you win The music business is a competitive marketplace for Artistes. Thousands of songs are released every day, all competing for the same limited attention. Strategy, therefore, is about deliberately positioning yourself to capture a portion of that market rather than simply hoping your music gets discovered. 1. Where You Compete: For an emerging Artiste, the first strategic decision is choosing where you will compete. This is about identifying the market, audience, platform, community, or culture where you have the greatest opportunity to gain traction. You don’t have to chase every audience. Instead, determine where your music naturally belongs and where you can establish authority before expanding. Your “where” could be: * A specific fan community. * A particular geographic market. * A social platform. * A music scene or subculture. * A niche audience that is currently underserved. Sometimes, the smartest strategy is to find a Blue Ocean; a space where very few Artistes are creating meaningful value with their music. A Blue Ocean is not simply a niche. It is a position where your expression as an emerging Artiste is so distinct that, when people think about the sound, style, audience, or movement, your name becomes the obvious reference point. In that space, you’re no longer fighting intense competition, you are defining the category. 2. How You Compete: Once you’ve decided where to compete, the next question is how. Most Artistes believe their music alone should do the work. Today’s music market doesn’t work that way. People buy into personalities before they become loyal to music. Your music may attract attention, but your identity often determines whether people stay. This means you must look beyond your songs and examine yourself. Ask questions like: * What are my natural strengths? * What makes me interesting outside my music? * How do I communicate? * What beliefs or worldview shape my identity? * What talents, skills, knowledge, humour, lifestyle, or experiences can strengthen my brand? In today’s attention economy, value means different things to different people. Sometimes, the personality of the Artiste sells the music before the music sells itself. Your goal is to identify every advantage you possess and intentionally use it to create demand for your music. 3. How You Win: Winning is about packaging and execution. This pillar focuses on the standards you maintain after deciding where and how to compete. It is reflected in: * The excellence of your music. * The consistency of your work. * Your professionalism. * Your creativity. * Your passion. * Your ability to continuously improve and deliver memorable experiences. Winning is not accidental, it is the result of repeatedly executing better than the alternatives available to your audience. Strategy Creates Productivity. When an Artiste clearly understands: * Where they will compete, * How they will compete, and * How they intend to win, they can begin setting activities that are aligned with those objectives. Every piece of content, every release, every collaboration, every expense, and every marketing effort should move them closer to those strategic goals. The purpose of strategy is to maximize impact by ensuring every action contributes to sustainable visibility, significance, and commercial growth. If an activity does not increase your impact, strengthen your positioning, improve your visibility, or move you closer to your objectives as an Artiste, then it is simply consuming your time, money, and energy without creating meaningful returns. Strategy is ultimately the discipline of making intentional choices that produce measurable and sustainable results.

You can also start a TikTok trend using the beautiful ladies you’re already creating content with. Create a challenge where girls make a video of themselves in three different outfits representing “Fine,” “Lit,” and “Sexy.” For example: Fine – a corporate or classy outfit. Lit – a native/traditional outfit or their favorite party look. Sexy – a nightwear or confidence-themed outfit. People can interpret the concept in their own creative way while showcasing these three sides of themselves, just as the song describes. The hook is already catchy and taps into something realistic and relatable that many ladies can connect with. That’s a strong foundation for a user generated content trend. While posting videos of yourself with these beautiful ladies on X is a good promotional strategy, building a creative challenge around the “Fine, Lit, Sexy” concept has stronger potential to travel organically on TikTok and Instagram because it gives people a clear idea to participate in, not just consume. Try it.🤞

As helpful as relationships can be for emerging Artistes, they are, to a large extent, overrated. There is a level of wisdom, humility, and grace required to build and manage quality relationships (which many emerging Artistes have not yet developed). Some Artistes become “human worshippers”; neglecting the place of hard work, vision, and creating genuine value for their audience simply because they now have access to influential people. Others become arrogant, dishonour agreements, and abandon professionalism because they believe new relationships and privilege have made them untouchable. A significant number of Label-Artiste conflicts are fuelled by new relationships an Artiste develops over time. People within these new circles often encourage the Artiste to disregard contracts and commitments they willingly signed. As an emerging Artiste, don’t make chasing relationships your priority. Focus first on your personal development, your craft, and the value you consistently offer your audience. Then develop the wisdom and humility to say no when necessary, because not every attractive industry relationship is a beneficial one. The right relationship can speedup your journey, but it cannot compensate for a lack of competence, character, or value. Truly, you can be one relationship away from everything changing for good, or bad.

You were not born at the wrong time. Artistes like you were born for a time like this, and have the power to make things better if you want to.