The growing use of the internet and the use of smartphones has played a great role in increased interest in Naija entertainment gist. Social media campaigns have also boosted the Nigerian entertainment. The musicians have seen an increase in digital sales of their music, online streaming, and increased downloads. Other trends include the increased demand for the Nigerian films from within and outside the country. Despite other challenges such as piracy and poor distribution channels, the Nigerian entertainment industry has remained a goldmine. Here are the various things which took place in the Nigerian entertainment industry.
The Growth of the Industry
The media and entertainment industry witnessed a large growth of about 25percent. This amounted to about $4 billion. Increased internet access is attributed to be one of the factors for the growth of the industry with the $600 million out of the $770 million attributed to it. Nollywood is also the third largest player in the film industry and 90% of its growth is attributed to the increased internet access.
Growth of Music
Due to the increased consumption of music by the Nigerians on the mobile devices as compared to television, the music industry also reported a big boom. The musicians also made revenue from a number of performances within and outside Nigeria, ring back tones, music streaming and music licensing. Some of the Nigerian artists also had a series of collaborations with international artists which increased their exposure and hence increasing their revenue.
Regulation by Federal Government
After coming into power, the Muhammadu Buhari administration came up with a number of regulations in the creative industry to create a structure which would allow for the growth of a vibrant entertainment industry. Some of them include the dividends which were given to finance the industry however still there are no signs of the dividends in the industry.
In a meeting with the Motion Pictures Practitioners Association, the President said that he had instructed the Bank of Industry to provide capital to the entertainment industry as part of uplifting the efforts made by the industry.
The practitioners have embraced private investment and relied on the use of social media as a way of increasing their coverage.
Lose of Naija Top Talents
As it happens each year, Nigeria also lost a number of stars in the entertainment industry to the brutal hand of death in 2018. They include Chike Osuji, Nelson Oluchukwu, Ikenga Gblie among others. Popular singer Ras Kimono also passed away.
Piracy
Piracy has still remained one of the big issues in the entertainment industry even though the Nigerian Copyright Act of 2004 was put in place to protect intellectual property. Most of the stakeholders have attributed to the increased copyright infringement to the poor enactment of laws, corruption and the inability of the courts to prosecute the offenders. Piracy hit harder in 2018 and most of the stakeholders called for the need to collaborate to end the issue.
Despite the challenges which the Naija entertainment gist faces, the industry is growing at a faster rate. In 2019, there are a number of expectations on the growth of the industry. Besides, increased collaboration between the stakeholders and the government will lead to a decrease in the number of issues affecting the industry.
