PwC: Nigeria’s music sector to reach $86m by 2020

The report produces historical growth figures in the entertainment industry from the first half of the decade—2011 to 2015—and then forecasts growth figures for the latter part.

The eleven categories covered by the report are, the internet, television, filmed entertainment, video games, business-to-business publishing, recorded music, newspaper publishing, recorded music, magazine publishing, book publishing, out-of-home-advertising and radio.

All of these categories will show marked growth in Nigeria and the other countries covered over the next four years. This growth, according to the report, will be propelled by internet access, especially in Nigeria.

The country’s music sector, in particular, will benefit from increased internet access as revenue doubles over the decade. By 2020, the Nigerian music industry is expected to be worth $86 million from $40 million in 2011 and $47 million in 2015. The forecasted growth is linked directly to mobile devices. “Mobile music,” says the report, “is driving revenue in the music segment, again benefitting from its piracy-proof nature.”

Says PwC: without revenue from ringtones and ringback tones Nigeria’s “legitimate music sector [is] small otherwise” as by 2020, digital access to music will be responsible for “over 90% of Nigeria’s recorded music.”

Taken together, however, both physical and digital access to music will see the Nigerian music market experience a growth of 12.9%, a little over the total growth rate (11%) predicted for the entertainment and media sector.

The report by PwC ties into announcements made by the telecoms company MTN. Last year, the company was the “largest distributor of music in Nigeria,” and this year it has announced a revenue of $70m from selling music.

Overall, Nigeria emerges as the country with the highest reliance on the internet for revenue.

“Although South Africa’s market is characterised by a tendency to be overly weighted to Internet access,” says the report, “with that segment’s share approaching 40% by 2020, this is nothing compared to the stranglehold Internet has over Nigeria’s E&M revenue. In 2015, Internet access revenue accounted for just under 50% of the US$3.8 billion figure and, in 2020, that proportion will rise to 61%.”

Also, with a predicted annual growth rate of 11% across the eleven categories, Nigeria will grow at a pace that “globally, only Indonesia (13.2%) can exceed.”

It is worth noting that both Nigeria and Indonesia are among the 10 most populous countries in the world, and as such have a considerable market for entertainment products.

The increased growth that will be seen throughout this decade has coincided with the rise in popularity of Nigerian music—as deals have been sealed across the Atlantic. Weeks ago, a number of Nigerian artists were among an all-star line-up for the One Africa Music Fest in the USA; popstars Wizkid and Davido have signed with Sony; Tiwa Savage has a deal with Jay Z’s Roc Nation; and the US-based artist Jidenna has performed in Nigeria.